Honey bee dispersal of the biocontrol agent Trichoderma harzianum T39: effectiveness in suppressing Botrytis cinerea on strawberry under field conditions |
| |
| Authors: | Sharoni Shafir Arnon Dag Alon Bilu Mohamad Abu-Toamy Yigal Elad |
| |
| Institution: | (1) B. Triwaks Bee Research Center, Department of Entomology, Faculty of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Quality Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot, 76100, Israel;(2) Fruit Tree Sciences, ARO, The Volcani Center, Gilat Research Station, 85280 Mobile Post Negev, Israel;(3) Extension Service, Ministry of Agriculture, Hadera, Israel;(4) Department of Plant Pathology and Weed Sciences, ARO, The Volcani Center, Bet Dagan, 50250, Israel |
| |
| Abstract: | Botrytis cinerea, which causes grey mould, is a major pathogen of many crops. On strawberry, isolates of Trichoderma spp. can effectively control B. cinerea, but frequent application is necessary. Bees can be used to disseminate biological control agents to the target crop. We tested the ability of honey bees to disseminate Trichoderma harzianum T39 to control B. cinerea in strawberry in the field during the winter in Israel over two consecutive seasons. We used the recently developed ‘Triwaks’ dispenser for loading the bees with the T. harzianum inoculum. During both years, grey mould developed in late January in untreated control plots; at low to medium disease levels it was partially controlled by fungicide treatment, and was best controlled in bee-visited plots. At high disease levels neither chemical nor biological control was effective. To assess the spatial distribution of inoculum by bees, we sampled flowers up to 200 m from the hives and found effective levels of T. harzianum even at 200 m. The approach used in this study provides an effective control of grey mould in strawberry in conditions of low to medium grey mould incidence. |
| |
| Keywords: | Apis mellifera grey mould inoculum dispenser Trichodex |
| 本文献已被 SpringerLink 等数据库收录！ |
|
