BIOLOGY AND ECOLOGY OF MYCOPARASITISM

The term mycoparasitism applies strictly to those relationships in whi ch one living fungus acts as a nutrient source for another, but fungic olous relationships may also be included in which nutrient exchange ha s not been shown. Fungicolous fungi have a constant but indeterminate association with another fungus, and it can be difficult to demonstrat e a true parasitic relationship. Mycoparasitic relationships can be ne crotrophic or biotrophic, and can be classified on the basis of the ho st-parasite interface as contact necrotrophs, invasive necrotrophs, ha ustorial biotrophs, intracellular biotrophs, or fusion biotrophs depen ding on the intimacy of the relationship. In natural ecosystems, it is proposed that mycoparasitic relationships play an important role in t he development of fungal communities. Two specific examples have been chosen to illustrate the general principles of mycoparasitism: the nec rotrophic invasion of spores of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and the b iotrophic invasion of mucoralean hosts by haustorial mycoparasites.