Special Interest Group Meeting

Role of cystidia and hairy structures in fungus resistance to feeding by Collembola

Taizo Nakamori, Graduate School of Environment and Information Sciences, Yokohama National University, 79-7 Tokiwadai, Hodogaya, Yokohama 240-8501, Japan

Cystidia, sterile bodies of distinctive shape, in fruit bodies are taxonomically important characters. However, little is known about their ecological functions. In the present study, the defensive role of cystidia against the fungivorous collembolan species Ceratophysella denisana was examined in fruit bodies of Russula bella and Strobilurus ohshimae. Laboratory experiments demonstrated that R. bella and S. ohshimae cystidia decrease the number of collembola found on gills. Furthermore, R. bella cystidia increased collembolan mortality in the laboratory, and in the field, collembola were found dead on parts of the fruit body of this species where cystidia were abundant. In the experiments, approximately one-third of collembola appeared to avoid R. bella. Therefore, deadly cystidia may be selected for in R. bella to avoid collembolan attack. Laboratory feeding experiments revealed that collembola can extensively damage R. bella and S. ohshimae basidiospores by feeding. These results suggest that the cystidia of R. bella and S. ohshimae may protect basidiospores from collembolan predation.

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