identifier: traitmech:000727
label: fungal nematode endoparasitism
definition: An animal-pathogenic phenotype in which a fungus uses spores attached
  to or ingested by a vermiform nematode to initiate infection and then grows inside
  the host.
definition_source: DOI:10.1371/journal.pgen.1006017
trait_category: ECOLOGY
term_kind: CLASS
mapping_status: PROPOSED
parent_traits:
- METPO:1004002
evidence:
- reference: DOI:10.1371/journal.pgen.1006017
  snippet: Drechmeria coniospora is an obligate fungal pathogen that infects nematodes
    via the adhesion of specialized spores to the host cuticle.
  notes: 'Lebrigand et al. 2016, PMID:27153332, PMCID:PMC4859500, scientific Abstract.
    Direct JATS match and native VERIFIED. Author Summary and Discussion distinguish
    spore-initiated endoparasitism from hyphal traps and egg infection. Actual Figures
    8 and 9 show recombinant fungal growth in C. elegans, not unmodified natural exemplars.
    S1 Text was fully read and visually checked: the laboratory line was serially
    passaged for about 15 years; its source isolate and ARSEF 6962 share provenance.
    Obligate is the authors'' species description, not a universal class requirement
    or inability to grow on their artificial medium. Predicted genes and expression
    are not a universal mechanism.'
- reference: DOI:10.3390/jof10010068
  snippet: Then, the fungal hyphae penetrate into the nematode body cavity and grow
    in the nematode body
  notes: Sun et al. 2024, PMID:38248977, PMCID:PMC10820206, Results 3.2. Direct JATS
    match; native NOT_IN_ABSTRACT retained. Methods 2.5 and actual Figure 2c,d concern
    GFP-engineered HR-eGFP1 on Bursaphelenchus xylophilus; Figure 2 distinguishes
    attachment, entry, internal growth and emergence. The entire two-page supplement,
    including S1-S3, was inspected. Methods 2.6 scores attached spores or colonization
    as parasitism; no rate is imported as an internal-infection rate. Main-text intestinal
    infection after swallowing is tentative; do not silently strengthen it using the
    supplement caption. No field efficacy or safety is inferred.
- reference: DOI:10.1017/S0953756296002092
  snippet: The infection method for Harposporium cycloides was shown to be by spore
    ingestion.
  notes: Glockling and Shimazu 1997, publisher scientific Abstract. Direct contiguous
    HTML match; DOI/title confirmed by Crossref and Europe PMC AGR:IND20619532. The
    native abstract resolver returned UNRESOLVED because it returned no abstract;
    this is not a missing-index claim. The primary abstract reports spore-ingestion
    infection in Harposporium cycloides and infectivity testing after pure culture.
    Full Methods, figures and host/strain provenance were not accessed; no canonical
    taxon, dose, route universality or pure-culture obligacy is inferred.
discussions:
- discussion_id: fungal-nematode-endoparasitism-scope-and-hierarchy
  prompt: Refine the infection-strategy hierarchy without conflating infection, trapping
    and feeding.
  kind: CURATION_TODO
  status: OPEN
  rationale: The fungal bearer has the established spore-infection-strategy phenotype,
    not merely an anatomical location inside a nematode. The host-contacting or ingested
    spore is the infectious unit; spore germination into an external hyphal trap is
    not this route. Adhesion or ingestion alone, killing alone, internal occupancy
    without the specified route and sequence annotation are insufficient. Vermiform
    stages distinguish the selected strategy from eggshell penetration in fungal nematode
    egg parasitism traitmech:000726. Fungal nematophagy traitmech:000719 requires
    feeding and includes dead prey; fungal nematode trap formation traitmech:000718
    concerns hyphal differentiation. Neither is asserted as a parent. Local parasitism
    traitmech:000043 inherits persistent symbiosis, not required here. Animal pathogen
    METPO:1004002 is active below pathogenic to host METPO:1004000 and phenotype METPO:1000059.
    Current upstream clarifies its pinned organism-like wording as a phenotype; the
    local parent remains unchanged. No organism-level disjointness, exclusive host
    stage, universal host range or obligacy is asserted. Bare endoparasitism does
    not specify the fungal actor, host or infection route and is not an exact synonym.
  posed_by: codex
  posed_date: '2026-10-14'
- discussion_id: fungal-nematode-endoparasitism-metpo-assessment
  prompt: Review the proposed infection class without reviving the obsolete parasitism
    identifier.
  kind: CURATION_TODO
  status: OPEN
  rationale: No exact active counterpart was identified in inspected pinned/current
    releases, editor and six template owners. Historical METPO:1000227 obsolete parasitism
    is broader, deprecated, under ObsoleteClass with OMO:0001000 reason and no replacement
    or consider annotation in those releases. METPO issue 521 disputes mechanically
    assigned reasons; the code neither invalidates the biology nor authorizes reuse.
    The historical ID is not revived or placed in xrefs. The ontology pin remains
    unchanged; v603 proposes this narrower infection phenotype with PROPOSED status
    and no equivalent external xref. Existing bacterial endoparasitic predation is
    not this fungal spore-infection strategy.
  posed_by: codex
  posed_date: '2026-10-14'
- discussion_id: fungal-nematode-endoparasitism-evidence-limits
  prompt: Resolve assay endpoints and strain provenance before adding rates, canonical
    taxa or causal proteins.
  kind: KNOWLEDGE_GAP
  status: OPEN
  rationale: Sun's Methods 2.6 counts attached spores or colonization; reported parasitism
    percentages are not curated as internal infection rates. Its imaged HR-eGFP1 is
    engineered, and morphological similarity to the wild type does not establish unchanged
    virulence. Its intestinal-route suggestion remains tentative; the distinct 1997
    primary abstract supports ingestion in Harposporium cycloides. Lebrigand's S1
    Text reports long laboratory passage and related isolate provenance, so these
    are not independent natural-strain exemplars. Predicted genes, expression and
    disputed assembly or mating-type interpretations are not required causal effectors.
    No canonical taxa, proteins or causal graph are asserted without further authority
    and strain-provenance work. Microscopy does not measure nutrient flux; no quantitative
    threshold, field efficacy or safety is inferred. The verification sidecar retains
    actual source locators, hashes and native verdicts; direct matching does not upgrade
    NOT_IN_ABSTRACT or UNRESOLVED. Full Glockling Methods and all raw experimental
    data were not accessed, and bounded notice checks are not comprehensive correction/retraction
    clearance.
  posed_by: codex
  posed_date: '2026-10-14'
curation_history:
- timestamp: '2026-10-14T15:19:28Z'
  curator: codex
  action: MINTED_TRAITMECH_ID
  changes: Added fungal nematode endoparasitism with three primary DOI sources and
    directly matched 20-, 16- and 13-word excerpts. Retained native VERIFIED, NOT_IN_ABSTRACT
    and UNRESOLVED outcomes. Spore-initiated infection and internal growth are not
    adhesion alone, hyphal traps or egg infection. No rates, canonical taxa or sequence-derived
    mechanism imported. Reserved 000727, v603 and 1068000-1068099 after ignored/hidden
    current-copy, retained-history and open/draft PR checks, including full-content
    proposal ranges. A ChemSpider identifier and broad editor envelopes are not METPO
    reservations. Other records unchanged; timestamp records observed acceptance.
  llm_assisted: true