Efficient Mass Propagation Method of Pine Wood Nematode (Bursaphelenchus xylophilus) Using Mushroom Bed Cultivation Bag

Abstract

Mass propagation of pine wood nematodes (PWNs) has generally been conducted using Petri dishes containing 20 g barley. However, this method is labor intensive, especially when a large population of PWNs is required, thus hindering the work involved in their propagation. In this study, we determined the utility of mushroom bed cultivation bags, with a capacity for a large amount of barley, for the mass propagation of PWNs. We used 100 Petri dishes and 6 cultivation bags with 2,000 and 1,700 g barley, respectively, for propagating PWNs. Sufficient and comparable numbers of PWNs were obtained from Petri dishes and cultivation bags. However, the operation time required for the propagation of PWNs varied from 407 minutes using Petri dishes to 76 minutes using cultivation bags. Thus, the operation time involved in propagating PWNs using cultivation bags was only 20％ of that involved in PWN propagation using Petri dishes. On the basis of these data, we conclude that the propagation of PWNs can be greatly improved with the use of cultivation bags.