Effect of Bifentrhin (Talstar~(R)) on Mycorrhizal Colonization of California Native Plants in Containers

摘要

The insecticide bifenthrin (Talstar~(R)) is a synthetic pyrethroid required by regulation for the production of nursery crops to suppress the red imported fire ant in Orange and Riverside Counties in California. However, there are no published studieson the consequences of the application of this chemical on the mycorrhizal symbiosis. We've initiated research to determine the effects of bifenthrin on mycorrhizal colonization by Glomus intraradices, a vesicular arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi used to inoculate California native plant hosts at the Tree of Life Nursery. Greenhouse experiments were conducted with Apium graveolens, Encelia californica, and Salvia apiana.The percentage of mycorrhizal colonization was compared in plants grown without bifenthrin and with bifenthrin at different concentrations. This study showed that the application of bifenthrin had no detrimental effects on root colonization by Glomus intraradices in the nursery practices at the Tree of Life Nursery.