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Biocontrol of the toxigenic plant pathogen Fusarium culmorum by soil fauna in an agroecosystem

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Abstract

In 2011 and 2013, a field experiment was conducted in a winter wheat field at Adenstedt (northern Germany) to investigate biocontrol and interaction effects of important members of the soil food web (Lumbricus terrestris, Annelida; Folsomia candida, Collembola and Aphelenchoides saprophilus, Nematoda) on the phytopathogenic fungus Fusarium culmorum in wheat straw. Therefore, soil fauna was introduced in mesocosms in defined numbers and combinations and exposed to either Fusarium-infected or non-infected wheat straw. L. terrestris was introduced in all faunal treatments and combined either with F. candida or A. saprophilus or both. Mesocosms filled with a Luvisol soil, a cover of different types of wheat straw and respective combinations of faunal species were established outdoors in the topsoil of a winter wheat field after harvest of the crop. After a time span of 4 and 8 weeks, the degree of wheat straw coverage of mesocosms was quantified to assess its attractiveness for the soil fauna. The content of Fusarium biomass in residual wheat straw and soil was determined using a double-antibody sandwich (DAS)-ELISA method. In both experimental years, the infected wheat straw was incorporated more efficiently into the soil than the non-infected control straw due to the presence of L. terrestris in all faunal treatments than the non-infected control straw. In addition, Fusarium biomass was reduced significantly in all treatments after 4 weeks (2011: 95–99%; 2013:15–54%), whereupon the decline of fungal biomass was higher in faunal treatments than in non-faunal treatments and differed significantly from them. In 2011, Fusarium biomass of the faunal treatments was below the quantification limit after 8 weeks. In 2013, a decline of Fusarium biomass was observed, but the highest content of Fusarium biomass was still found in the non-faunal treatments after 8 weeks. In the soil of all treatments, Fusarium biomass was below the quantification limit. The earthworm species L. terrestris revealed a considerable potential as an effective biocontrol agent contributing to a sustainable control of a Fusarium plant pathogen in wheat straw, thus reducing the infection risk for specific plant diseases in arable fields.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Prof. Dr. Liliane Ruess and Michael Ackermann (HU Berlin) for providing the mass cultures of A. saprophilus and their valuable advice for the breeding procedure. Furthermore, the excellent technical assistance of Sabine El Sayed, Berthold Ortmeier, Evelin Schummer, Anke Führer, Sina Wedekind, Marco Hornbostel, Svenja Wiedenroth, Annika Rickmann and Sarah Havertz is gratefully acknowledged. For providing the climate data of the field site, we thank Jan Bug from the Institute of Physical Geography and Landscape Ecology, University of Hannover. The study was supported by the German Federal Environmental Foundation, Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt (DBU), by providing a personal grant to Friederike Meyer-Wolfarth. Furthermore, the financial support of the Brigitte und Wolfram Gedek-Stiftung is gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Biodiversity, Johann Heinrich von Thünen-Institute (TI) - Federal Research Institute for Rural Areas, Forestry and Fisheries, Bundesallee 50, 38116, Braunschweig, Germany

    Friederike Meyer-Wolfarth & Stefan Schrader

  2. Institute for Plant Protection in Field Crops and Grassland, Julius Kühn-Institute (JKI) - Federal Research Institute for Cultivated Plants, Messeweg 11/12, 38104, Braunschweig, Germany

    Elisabeth Oldenburg

  3. The Chamber of Agriculture Lower Saxony, Department of Plant Protection, Wunstorfer Landstraße 9, 30453, Hannover, Germany

    Joachim Weinert

  4. Institute of Agricultural Technology, Johann Heinrich von Thünen-Institute (TI) - Federal Research Institute for Rural Areas, Forestry and Fisheries, Bundesallee 50, 38116, Braunschweig, Germany

    Joachim Brunotte

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  1. Friederike Meyer-Wolfarth
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  2. Stefan Schrader
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  3. Elisabeth Oldenburg
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Correspondence to Friederike Meyer-Wolfarth.

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Meyer-Wolfarth, F., Schrader, S., Oldenburg, E. et al. Biocontrol of the toxigenic plant pathogen Fusarium culmorum by soil fauna in an agroecosystem. Mycotoxin Res 33, 237–244 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12550-017-0282-1

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