The Spread of the Soil-Borne Pathogen Fusarium solani in Stored Potato Can Be Controlled by Terrestrial Woodlice (Isopoda: Oniscidea)

Anett Mészárosné Póss, Anikó Südiné Fehér, Franciska Tóthné Bogdányi and Ferenc Tóth
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Anett Mészárosné Póss: Institute of Geography and Geoinformatics, Faculty of Earth Science and Engineering, Miskolc University, H-3515 Miskolc, Hungary
Anikó Südiné Fehér: Doctoral School of Plant Sciences, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Páter Károly u. 1., H-2100 Gödöllő, Hungary
Franciska Tóthné Bogdányi: ImMuniPot Research Group, H-2100 Gödöllő, Hungary
Ferenc Tóth: Department of Zoology and Ecology, Institute for Wildlife Management and Nature Conservation, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Páter Károly u. 1., H-2100 Gödöllő, Hungary

Agriculture, 2021, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-15

Abstract: Fusarium solani , a soil-borne pathogen of stored potato may be disseminated, and thus, the damage caused by the pathogen may be aggravated by the grazing activities of arthropods. To investigate whether terrestrial woodlice contribute to the spread or, instead, to the control of F. solani , we launched a series of pilot experiments. First, a laboratory feeding trial was set up to find whether and to what extent woodlice consume the mycelia of fungal pathogens, namely, Aspergillus niger, F. solani , Macrophomina phaseolina , and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum . This was followed by a second set of experiments to simulate storage conditions where potato tubers, either healthy or infected with F. solani , were offered to woodlice. We found that: (1) F. solani was accepted by woodlice but was not their most preferred food source; (2) the presence of woodlice reduced the spread of F. solani among potato tubers. Our results suggest that the classification of terrestrial woodlice as “storage pests” needs re-evaluation, as isopods have the potential to disinoculate infective plant remnants and, thus, reduce the spread of storage pathogens.

Keywords: ecosystem services; storage pest; disinoculation; disease control; food choice test; beneficial arthropods; Armadillidium vulgare; Porcellionides pruinosus; Porcellio scaber (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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