Major Biocontrol Agents Against Plant Pathogens: Mechanisms and Applications
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.69565/mls.v5i1.443Keywords:
Biocontrol Agents, Mycoparasitism, Bacteriophages, Plant Parasitic Nematodes, Induced Systemic Resistance.Abstract
Phytopathogens endanger global food security and this threat necessitates the development of disease management frameworks that are accurate, scalable and real-time. Gold standards are the application of synthetic pesticides; however, chemical residues degrade soil microbiomes and promote pathogen resistance. The evolution of current technologies in agriculture has been dependent on biological control mechanisms. This paper describes the architecture of microbial agents deployed against viral, bacterial, nematode and fungal plant pathogens. The classification of biocontrol strategies is achieved by evaluating specific antagonistic mechanisms. Fungal endophytes induce systemic resistance to suppress viral replication. Bacteriophages demonstrate high efficacy in digesting bacterial cell walls and suppressing virulence genes. Nematode eradication happens by lytic enzyme secretion and secondary metabolite toxicity. Mycoparasitism and cyclic lipopeptide production serve fast neutralization of phytopathogenic fungi. The above interactions are dictated by environmental variables and host-pathogen dynamics. Field deployment necessitates the development of stable formulations. This study deduced that microbial consortia and spray-induced gene silencing represent robust pathways for sustainable crop protection.
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