Article for the “Free-living amoebae Special Issue”: Isolation and characterisation of various amoebophagous fungi and evaluation of their prey spectrum

This article gives an overview on the isolation and characterisation of endoparasitic fungi invading free-living amoebae (FLA), including the ones forming thalli inside their hosts such as Cochlonema euryblastum and also the predatory fungi which capture amoebae by adhesive hyphae. Acaulopage spp. and Stylopage spp. trap, intrude, and exploit amoebal trophozoites. Previous phylogenetic studies proved Cochlonema to be a member of the Zoopagales. The genetic investigation of Acaulopage tetraceros demonstrated its close relationship to Cochlonema. Co-cultivation of A. tetraceros with a number of FLA revealed a great prey spectrum of this amoebophageous fungus. In addition it was shown that solitary amoebal stages of slime moulds such as Dictyostelium sp. and Physarum sp. are also suited as welcome prey amoebae.