[4] Biotrophic mycoparasites tend to show high host specificity, and often form specialized infection structures.
[5] Necrotrophic mycoparasites can be aggressively antagonistic, invading the host fungus and killing, then digesting components of its cells.
[4][6] The four main steps of mycoparasitism include target location; recognition; contact and penetration; and nutrient acquisition.
[7] Many research indicate that hyphal growth direction, spore germination, and bud tube elongation of mycoparasitic fungi may exhibit tropism in response to detection of a potential host.
Carbohydrate residues on the cell wall of mycoparasites might bind to lectins on the surface of the host fungi to achieve mutual recognition.
[3] Mycoparasitic fungi can be important controls of plant disease fungi in natural systems and in agriculture, and may play a role in integrated pest management (IPM) as biological controls [16] Some Trichoderma species have been developed as biocontrols of a range of commercially important diseases,[7] and have been applied in the United States, India, Israel, New Zealand, Sweden, and other countries to control plant diseases caused by Rhizoctonia solani, Botrytis cinerea, Sclerotium rolfsii, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, Pythium spp., and Fusarium spp.