Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci (2016) 5(3): 829-835 829 Original Research Article http://dx.doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2016.503.096 Utilization of the Fungus Duddingtonia flagrans in Control of Nematode Larvae Development in Equine Stool Manuela Colares de Andrade 1 , Emy Hiura, Leandro Abreu da Fonseca 2 , Carolina Magri Ferraz 1 , Caio Colodette Senna 1 , Fabio Porto Sena 1 , Lorena Coutinho Correa 1 , Anderson Rocha Aguiar 1 , Tracy Ferreira Lacerda 1 , Fabricia Molodo Giradi 2 , Jackson Victor de Araújo 2 , Fernando Luis Tobias 1 and Fabio Ribeiro Braga 1 * 1 Clinical and Veterinary Parasitology Laboratory, University Vila Velha, Espirito Santo, Brazil 2 Department of Veterinary Medicine, Federal University of Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil *Corresponding author ABSTRACT Fecal environment in conjunction with the pastures act as a sort of "incubator" and reservoir propagator for infective larvae (L3) belonging to nematode parasites. In this sense, the use of antagonists that can act to control the development of nematodes in stool is welcome. In the present the nematophagous fungus Duddingtonia flagrans (AC001) was used. The objective of this study was to use the fungus Duddingtonia flagrans in the biological control of the development of nematode larvae in equine stool. Feces from parasited equine raised on pasture in a rural property in the south east region of Espirito Santo - Brazil were used during the months of July to August 2015. Then, the fecal samples were separated into two equidistant locations where they were divided into a control group and a group treated with fungus. Weekly, in the treated group, 2 mL of the fungus with an approximate concentration of 1,000 chlamydospores was added. In the control group 2 mL of distilled water was added. Next, from each stool sample, in each group, total fecal masses were collected for further analysis of EPG, stool cultures, and later the Baermann for L3 reduction analysis. The dynamics of the experiment was based on the addition of fungus and or distilled water, collection of total fecal mass, followed by replacement of the fecal boli from the treated and control groups with positive stool for equine gastrointestinal nematodes. The results demonstrated that the larvae mean counts for the control group were higher than the average L3 retrieved from the group treated with AC001 (p<0.01). The L3 reduction percentage retrieved from the group treated with AC001 was 48.2% in relation to the control group. The results of this study point to the need for further research to be carried out involving the biological control for nematode population dynamics in equine stool. International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 5 Number 3(2016) pp. 829-835 Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com Keywords Stool, Nematode, Resistance, Duddingtonia flagrans and Biological Control Accepted: 15 January 2016 Available Online: 10 March 2016 Article Info