Biological Control of Plant Diseases: Innovations and Perspectives

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 (15 June 2020) | Viewed by 4735

Special Issue Editor

Department of Sustainable Crop Production, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Via Emilia Parmense, 84, 29122 Piacenza, Italy
Interests: plant disease epidemiology; biocontrol agents; biocontrol
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In recent years, the biological control of plant pathogens has been more and more emerged as a sustainable mean for disease management and it has been considered as a viable alternative for reducing the use of chemicals in agriculture. Actually, as a funding principle of IPM, it is promoted and encouraged by the EU Directive 128/2009 on Sustainable Use of Pesticides. The reasons for increasing restriction in the use of chemicals and for raising interest in biological control include the negative impacts of chemicals on human health and the environment, the pathogen-acquired resistance to commonly applied chemicals, and the lack of replacement products. The biological control involves the use of fungi, bacteria, yeasts, or viruses - usually known as biological control agents (BCAs) - that may suppress plant pathogens via multifaced modes of actions: from competition for nutrients and space to antibiosis, from parasitism to induced resistance in the host plant.

The aim of this Special Issue is to focus about the development, evaluation and use of these alternatives in order to increase the sustainability of disease management and to design novel approaches for disease control. We welcome contributions that present new products and microorganisms as well as innovative approaches able to prevent or suppress diseases. Increased knowledge and perspectives about how to optimize their use in sustainable and integrated strategies are also appreciated.

Dr. Tito Caffi
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • BCA
  • Biological control
  • Integrated Pest Management
  • Influence of environment
  • Integrated strategies
  • Organic Pest Management
  • Sustainability

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

15 pages, 4010 KiB  
Article
Biological Control of Thielaviopsis paradoxa and Colletotrichum gloeosporioides by the Extracellular Enzymes of Wickerhamomyces anomalus
by Luis Fernando Zepeda-Giraud, Dario Rafael Olicón-Hernández, Juan Pablo Pardo, Minerva Georgina Araiza Villanueva and Guadalupe Guerra-Sánchez
Agriculture 2020, 10(8), 325; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture10080325 - 2 Aug 2020
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 4316
Abstract
An alternative to chemical fungicides in post-harvest diseases are the use of biocontrol agents and their extracellular products against phytopathogens. Two relevant agents in post-harvest infections are Thielaviopsis paradoxa and Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, causing large economic losses in cacao, pineapple, and avocado during [...] Read more.
An alternative to chemical fungicides in post-harvest diseases are the use of biocontrol agents and their extracellular products against phytopathogens. Two relevant agents in post-harvest infections are Thielaviopsis paradoxa and Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, causing large economic losses in cacao, pineapple, and avocado during storage. In this work, we evaluated the effect of Wickerhamomyces anomalus, an effective biocontrol agent, against these filamentous fungi, focusing on the production of extracellular enzymes and their effect on fungal growth and germination. Moreover, we evaluated the use of inactivated fungal biomass as an inducer in complete (Potato Dextrose Agar and Yeast Peptone Dextrose) and minimal culture media. The antagonistic effect of W anomalus on the growth of both phytopathogens was also studied. The extracellular enzymes in YPD cultures, using T. paradoxa inactivated biomass as the best inducer, were capable of inhibiting the germination of both phytopathogens. In minimal media, only the production of a 30 kDa glucanase with activity against laminarin was observed. The enzyme was effective against the spore germination of T. paradoxa. In post-harvest crop protection tests, growth inhibition of T. paradoxa was observed using the cell-free enzyme extract, which is a promising system to protect cocoa fruits from T. paradoxa during post-harvest. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biological Control of Plant Diseases: Innovations and Perspectives)
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