Nylon netting technique for the study of the three dimensional growth of Rhizoctonia solani in soil

Abstract

A technique for estimating the three-dimensional growth of Rhizoctonia solani in soil by measurement of growth of Rhizoctonia on intersecting vertical and horizontal planes of nylon netting or nylon cloth is described. The three-dimensional system was compared to a two-dimensional soil sandwich technique using either Millipore filter membranes, or nylon netting. The techniques are also compared to a three-dimensional, pellet soil-sampler technique. There was better adherence of hyphae to the nylon netting (1.7 mm dia pores) than to the Millipore membrane (0.45 μm dia holes) or the Nybolt 21-T nylon screen printing material (32 μm dia holes). The two-dimensional and three-dimensional nylon netting technique resulted in a far more sensitive measure of hyphal growth in soil than the pellet soil-sampler technique. The use of nylon netting to measure growth of hyphae of R. solani in soil would be most appropriate in disturbed soil with the choice of two-dimensional or three-dimensional measurements depending on the aims of the experiment.