Resistance of an indigenous biological system against expansion of the invasive nematode, Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, in cool areas of Japan

Abstract Bursaphelenchus xylophilus is the pathogen associated with pine wilt disease (PWD), an infectious disease of pine trees transmitted by cerambycid beetles of the genus Monochamus. Bursaphelenchus xylophilus is an invasive species, whilst B. mucronatus is a native congener and non-pathogenic to pine trees in Japan. To provide experiment evidence of the biotic and/or abiotic resistance to PWD expansion in a cool area of Japan, we inoculated B. xylophilus into healthy pine trees in a Japanese red pine (Pinus densiflora) stand with the indigenous pine tree-B. mucronatus-insect vector system before invasion of B. xylophilus in 1993 and 1994. Extremely cool air temperature with high precipitation and extremely high air temperature with low precipitation were observed in the summers of the 2 years of inoculation, respectively. The cool summer induced a low incidence of PWD and delayed disease development, resulting in the replacement of B. xylophilus by B. mucronatus within diseased trees and the emergence of Monochamus saltuarius beetles carrying B. mucronatus from the trees 2 years after the inoculation. The hot summer induced disease development in trees in the year of inoculation, but such diseased trees did not become infection sources because of the lack of M. alternatus, whose oviposition was synchronised with the period of disease development in pine trees. This study indicated that biotic factors were important in the inhibitory mechanism in a pine forest against the spread of PWD in the stand. Relevant biotic factors were the lack of M. alternatus and the presence of M. saltuarius carrying B. mucronatus.