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The capsule-associated protein 10 gene (<i>CAP10</i>) is indispensable due to its involvement in pod formation and virulence maintenance in <i>Cryptococcus neoformans</i>. The function of the <i>CAP10</i> gene in nematode-predatory fungi remains unreported. As a typical nematode-trapping fungus, <i>Dactylellina haptotyla</i> efficiently captures nematodes using adhesive knobs, which has potential applications in the biological control of plant-parasitic nematodes. In this study, we investigated the function of DHXT1 (a CAP10 homologous protein) in <i>D. haptotyla</i>–nematode interactions based on the disruption and overexpression of <i>DHXT1</i>, phenotypic analysis and metabolomic analysis. As a result, it was shown that the disruption of the <i>DHXT1</i> gene causes a marked decrease in the number of adhesive knobs, and on the contrary, the overexpression of the <i>DHXT1</i> gene causes a substantial increase in the number of adhesive knobs. Interestingly, the variety of metabolites increased with the disruption of the <i>DHXT1</i> and decreased with the overexpression of the <i>DHXT1</i> gene. The results suggest that <i>DHXT1</i> effects pathogenicity through its involvement in adhesive knobs’ formation and metabolite synthesis and serves as a key virulence factor in <i>D. haptotyla</i>.