The nematophagous fungus Verticillium chlamydosporium produces a chymoelastase-like protease which hydrolyses host nematode proteins in situ.The nematophagous fungus Verticillium chlamydosporium secreted several proteases in submerged culture in which soya peptone was the sole carbon and nitrogen source. One protease, VCP1 (M(r) 33,000, pI 10.2), was purified 14-fold from culture filtrates to apparent homogeneity using preparative isoelectric focusing in free solution, and shown 

Uses :The nematophagous fungus, Verticillium chlamydosporium, has considerable potential as a biological control agent for root-knot nematodes on a range of crops. The fungus is a general facultative parasite that attacks the eggs of several nematode species.

Mode of Action: The fungus is capable of functioning as a parasite to eggs and females of the root-knot nematode. It forms a network of hyphae that covers the egg mass, penetrates the egg, and starts feeding on the nematodes’s internal content.