Enrichment of Mycophagous Protists

Soil protists are considered to be bacterivorous and fungivorous where bacterial energy channel in food web is controlled by bacterivorous nematodes and the fungal energy channel is controlled by arthropods and mycophagous nematodes. Most of the soil biologists accept this perspective; however, some taxonomists challenged the functional studies and revealed a range of mycophagous protists. Mycophagy among soil protists is common and is of ecological importance in terrestrial ecosystems. To increase the knowledge on the functional importance of mycophagous protists, there is an urge need of cultivating mycophagous protists. Therefore, for isolating and for enrichment of mycophagous protists, Neff’s modified amoeba saline (NMAS) and malt extract agar (MEA) are used. Fungal suspension as a feeding material for mycophagous protists is also needed.