Advances in Biocontrol Agents against Pathogens and Pests

A special issue of Agriculture (ISSN 2077-0472). This special issue belongs to the section "Crop Protection, Diseases, Pests and Weeds".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2021) | Viewed by 6050

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Crop Sciences, Research Institute of Organic Agriculture, FiBL
Interests: biocontrol; plant pathology; insect pathology; plant-beneficial bacteria; beneficial Pseudomonas; PGPR; post-harvest diseases

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Biocontrol offers an environmentally friendly alternative to chemical pesticides. It represents an integral part of organic crop production and gains importance in IPM programs due to increasing restrictions for chemical pesticides and consumers’ demand for residue-free food.

Many biocontrol agents have been very successful. However, inconsistent effectiveness of biocontrol products under varying environmental conditions can represent a problem. Moreover, costs, safety for humans and nontarget organisms, shelf-life, and regulation issues may be further pitfalls for the development of successful biocontrol products. Therefore, advances in biocontrol research, to find new active biocontrol agents, and concepts for successful application strategies, are urgently needed. This may include, among others, context dependence of the efficacy of biocontrol agents, i.e., also under changing climatic conditions, and the use of microbial consortia instead of single strains or advances in application technology.

This Special Issue focuses on the latest research on biocontrol of plant pathogens and pests (pre- and postharvest) and covers aspects from fundamental biology of biocontrol agents to applied solutions as well as all kinds of biocontrol organisms, from viruses, microorganisms, and nematodes to parasitoids and predators.

All types of articles, such as original research, reviews, and opinions, are welcome.

Dr. Pascale Flury
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Agriculture is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Biocontrol
  • Biological control agents
  • Beneficial microorganisms
  • Microbial consortia
  • Pests and pathogens
  • Phages, viruses, nematodes, bacteria, fungi, arthropods
  • Formulation and application technology
  • Sustainable agriculture
  • biology of control organisms
  • Invasive species
  • ‘Mode of actions’ of biocontrol agents
  • Nontarget effects
  • Resistance

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

15 pages, 1244 KiB  
Article
Combined Application of Rhizosphere Bacteria with Endophytic Bacteria Suppresses Root Diseases and Increases Productivity of Black Pepper (Piper nigrum L.)
by Sy Dinh Nguyen, Thi Huyen Trang Trinh, Trung Dzung Tran, Tinh Van Nguyen, Hoang Van Chuyen, Van Anh Ngo and Anh Dzung Nguyen
Agriculture 2021, 11(1), 15; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture11010015 - 28 Dec 2020
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 4468
Abstract
Black pepper (Piper nigrum L.) is one of the most important crops and global demand continues to increase, giving it a high export value. However, black pepper cultivation has been seriously affected by a number of pathogenic diseases. Among them, “quick wilt” [...] Read more.
Black pepper (Piper nigrum L.) is one of the most important crops and global demand continues to increase, giving it a high export value. However, black pepper cultivation has been seriously affected by a number of pathogenic diseases. Among them, “quick wilt” caused by Phytophthora sp., “slow decline” caused by Fusarium sp., and root-knot nematode Meloidogyne sp. have a serious negative effect on black pepper growth and productivity. There have been different chemical and biological methods applied to control these diseases, but their effectiveness has been limited. The aim of this research was to evaluate different combinations of rhizosphere bacteria and endophytic bacteria isolated from black pepper farms in the Central Highland of Vietnam for their ability to suppress pathogens and promote black pepper growth and yield. Formula 6, containing the strains Bacillus velezensis KN12, Bacillus amyloliquefaciens DL1, Bacillus velezensis DS29, Bacillus subtilis BH15, Bacillus subtilis V1.21 and Bacillus cereus CS30 exhibited the largest effect against Phytophthora and Fusarium in the soil and in the roots of black pepper. These bio-products also increased chlorophyll a and b contents, which led to a 1.5-fold increase of the photosynthetic intensity than the control formula and a 4.5% increase in the peppercorn yield (3.45 vs. 3.30 tons per hectare for the control). Our results suggest that the application of rhizosphere and endophytic bacteria is a promising method for disease control and growth-promotion of black pepper. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Biocontrol Agents against Pathogens and Pests)
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