Table 1.
Environmental Sampling and the number of samples for each Latin American country. Ecosystem map in S1 Fig.
Fig 1.
A. oligospora grows towards and invades T. catti. 1) 7 days of fungal growth and initial addition of T. cati show no interaction. 2) After 4 hours, the fungus grows towards T. cati eggs. 3) At 2 days, fungal hyphae penetrate T. cati eggs. 4) A control shows larva and egg hatching of living T. cati eggs.
Fig 2.
A. The presence of A. oligospora significantly reduced T. cati DNA levels.
B. Besides, at day 0, A. oligospora significantly decreased the concentration of T. cati (Exp = Experiment).
Fig 3.
A. oligospora DNA can be detected in all spiked experimental samples with decreasing concentration of DNA over time.
There is a 62.4% decrease in the mean DNA at 14 days (P = 0.3422). Several control samples naturally contained A. oligospora DNA (Exp = experiment).
Table 2.
Prevalence of parasites and DNA concentrations in the soil.
Fig 4.
The combined helminths and A. oligospora DNA concentrations across all seven countries.
Table 3.
The odds of detecting A. oligospora DNA but not helminth DNA across all seven Latin American countries combined. Chi-square analysis was used for Ascaris, Strongyloides, Toxocara species, and any helminth. Fisher’s exact test was used for Ancylostoma, Necator, Toxocara canis/cati, and Trichuris.
Fig 5.
The presence of A. oligospora DNA in soil samples was associated with a decrease in helminths throughout all seven countries.
In comparison to the lack of A. oligospora DNA in increased helminth numbers. The only significant differences were in Argentina (Trichuris trichiura), Ecuador (Strongyloides stercoralis, Toxocara species, and any helminth).