INTERACTIONS OF COLLEMBOLA WITH SOIL-BORNE CEREAL PATHOGEN AND BIOLOGICAL CONTROL FUNGI.

In laboratory tests we examined the interactions between different species of collembola abundant in cultivated soils and the major foot and root fungal pathogens of cereals Fusarium culmorum, Gaeumannomyces graminis tritici, Bipolaris sorokiniana and Rhizotonia cerealis. Collembola response to fungal food source was evaluated in Petri dishes inoculated concomitantly with the mycelium of the four pathogenic fungi. These tests revealed that, except for B. sorokiniana, which was repellent or lethal for all animals, the other mycelia attracted the Collembola to different degrees depending on the fungal species. Toxicity tests carried out with B. sorokiniana isolates showed a species-specific sensitivity to toxic metabolite/s produced by the fungus. The interactions of the collembolan species Mesaphorura krausbaueri and the well known biocontrol fungus Trichoderma harzianum, effective against several root-infecting fungi, was also investigated. Laboratory feeding tests carried out introducing Collembola in Petri dishes containing the mycelium of F. culmorum, G. graminis tritici, R. cerealis and T. harzianum showed that specimens were more attracted to fungal pathogens than to the fungal biocontrol agen