Folsomia hidakana (Collembola) prevents damping-off disease in cabbage and Chinese cabbage by Rhizoctonia solani

Shiraishi, H.; Enami, Y.; Okano, S.

doi:10.1078/0031-4056-00167

This study demonstrates a method for propagating the Collembola species, Folsomia hidakana Uchida et Tamura and the usefulness of this species in preventing damping-off in cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata) and Chinese cabbage (Brassica rape var. pekinensis) in a greenhouse. A new rearing method using 'Koji', boiled rice on which Aspergillus oryzae (Ahlburg) Cohn flourished, was developed for F. hidakana allowing population doubling in about 8.3 days. An experiment was carried out using a lysimeter in a greenhouse to evaluate the efficacy of F. hidakana in preventing damping-off disease in cabbage and Chinese cabbage caused by Rhizoctonia solani. The treatments were :1) Control, 2) R. solani (soil inoculated with R. solani), and 3) R. solani + F. hidakana (120,000 individuals m-2 to the soil inoculated with R. solani). Two weeks after the plots were set up, the germination of three cultivars of cabbage and three of Chinese cabbage was tested. The severity of damping-off was reduced by 82-87% in the R. solani + F. hidakana plot, in comparison to that of the R. solani plot, regardless of the plant cultivars and species. R. solani was not isolated from washed plant roots in the R. solani + F. hidakana plot, suggesting that F. hidakana suppressed the disease by feeding on R. solani.