Oyster mushroom unleashes chemical warfare on its nematode prey

A carnivorous mushroom has been discovered that accumulates a toxic ketone in a specialised organ and unleashes it at the slightest disturbance to kill its prey. The unmasking of the fungus’s chemical warfare agent could offer new ways to control agricultural pests.

Fungi in resource poor environments have evolved unique adaptations to catch and kill animals like soil dwelling nematodes. Well-known examples from the phylum Ascomycota use net like structures that ensnare roundworms. Pleurotus ostreatus, the oyster mushroom, a distant relative of Ascomycota has devised a unique strategy ꟷ toxic gas.