OBSERVATION OF NEMATOPHAGOUS FUNGI IN NATURAL SOILS BY FLUORESCENCE MICROSCOPY AND THEIR CORRELATION WITH ISOLATION

Thirty natural soil samples were collected from various sites in Berli n. These were nematode-enriched, stained with fluorescein-diacetate (F DA) and observed by fluorescence microscopy for the occurrence of nema tophagous fungi. The same soil samples were used for the isolation of nematophagous fungi. With the fluorescence microscope 50 observations of these fungi were made including different trapping organs, trapped nematodes, nematodes with assimilative hyphae and endoparasites. A tot al of 65 isolates were obtained in culture, representing 38 predators and 27 endoparasites. Network-forming fungi had the highest percentage occurrence in both observation by fluorescence and isolation. Trapper s with non-constricting rings were absent. Comparisons of the occurren ce of nematophagous fungi observed in natural soils by fluorescence an d those isolated showed no consistent relationship. But quantitatively , the number of observed occurrences of nematophagous fungi in soils c orrelated with number of isolations from the soils.