A plantlet inoculation method for applying biological control to protect cauliflower plants against cabbage root fly (CRF) was established. Pathogenicity of several insect- or soil-associated fungi against CRF was confirmed in in-vitro and glasshouse experiments. Additionally, rhizosphere competence of the tested fungi was assessed. We discovered that all tested fungi persisted on the cauliflower rhizoplane. More importantly, we were able to show that the added fungi were found also outside the original place of inoculation. These observations provided the evidence for concluding that our tested fungi, which were not known plant symbionts, could be transferred via or grow with the elongating roots. In addition to colonizing the rhizoplane, some fungi were found inside the plant root or stem tissue, thus exhibiting endophytic characteristics. We concluded that a biological control strategy involving young plantlet inoculation with selected fungi may be considered as an environmentally friendly alternative for CRF control especially in organic farming systems.
COBISS.SI-ID: 4476776
The main aim of the research was to test a hypothesis that soil adapted beneficial fungi might have a greater biological activity against an important Brassicaceous pest, the cabbage root fly (CRF), than previously well-known entomopathogenic fungi. The experiments involved pathogenicity assessment of 18 insect-associated or potentially plant growth promoting fungal strains. Two kinds of experiments were performed: in-vitro laboratory assays and soil tests. The former enabled quick pathogenicity screening and the latter mimicked natural exposure pathways of the pest to the fungi. All isolates tested were infective to CRF. Importantly, the soil-adapted as well as plant growth promoting fungi achieved higher pathogenicity against CRF in soil bioassays as compared to in-vitro bioassays, thereby proving our hypothesis. The main achievement of the research was that we were able to prove that a selection of soil adapted fungi, previously unknown to exhibit pathogenic effects against CRF outperformed conventional, much tested, entomopathogenic fungi.
COBISS.SI-ID: 4503144