Interactions between Maize root-associated fungi and the Western Corn Rootworm

新的严重玉米害虫--玉米象(Diabrotica virgifera virgifera，WCR)在欧洲玉米产区会因幼虫的根部取食而造成重大损失。根损伤还可能导致真菌侵入受损的植物组织，增加严重的问题，例如，与产生镰刀菌毒素的发病率增加有关。该项目旨在了解玉米根部幼虫发育与WCR饲养引起的真菌群落变化之间的相互作用。我们推测，不同的土壤类型和不同的玉米品种会在玉米根际支持不同的真菌群落，这可能会影响WCR幼虫的摄食和发育。幼虫取食反过来会引起真菌群落的变化，并可能增加产生真菌毒素的镰刀菌的丰度。赤霉病的发生与赤霉病的关系。将测试土壤中的密度和玉米植株的侵染率以及相应的真菌毒素水平。为了评估丛枝菌根(AM)的影响，丛枝菌根(AM)在玉米根部常见，已知会干扰幼虫的摄食，也可能干扰真菌的定植，也将在有或没有额外AM接种的情况下进行实验。

The new serious maize pest Diabrotica virgifera virgifera (Western Corn Rootworm, WCR) will cause heavy losses in European maize production areas due to root feeding of the larvae. Root damage will also cause a potential for fungi to invade damaged plant tissue adding serious problems, e.g., related to an increased incidence of mycotoxin producing Fusarium spp. The project aims at understanding the interactions between larval development in the roots of maize and fungal community changes as a result of WCR feeding. We hypothesize that different soil types and different maize cultivars will support different fungal communities in the rhizosphere of maize which might affect WCR larval feeding and development. Larval feeding in turn will induce fungal community changes and might increase the abundance of mycotoxin-producing Fusarium spp. The relationship between incidence of Fusarium sp. densities in the soil and infestation of maize plants and corresponding mycotoxin levels will be tested. To assess the effect of arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM), commonly encountered in maize roots and which are known to interfere with larval feeding and might also interfere with fungal colonization experiments will be also established in the presence or absence of an additional AM inoculum.