Microbial Consortia for Plant Protection against Diseases: More than the Sum of Its Parts

Abstract

Biological plant protection presents a promising and exciting alternative to chemical methods for safeguarding plants against the increasing threats posed by plant diseases. This approach revolves around the utilization of biological control agents (BCAs) to suppress the activity of significant plant pathogens. Microbial BCAs have the potential to effectively manage crop disease development by interacting with pathogens or plant hosts, thereby increasing their resistance. However, the current efficacy of biological methods remains unsatisfactory, creating new research opportunities for sustainable plant cultivation management. In this context, microbial consortia, comprising multiple microorganisms with diverse mechanisms of action, hold promise in terms of augmenting the magnitude and stability of the overall antipathogen effect. Despite scientific efforts to identify or construct microbial consortia that can aid in safeguarding vital crops, only a limited number of microbial consortia-based biocontrol formulations are currently available. Therefore, this article aims to present a complex analysis of the microbial consortia-based biocontrol status and explore potential future directions for biological plant protection research with new technological advancements.

New Trichoderma Asperellum Multirecycled Biologic for Spring Soft Wheat Rhizosphere: Protecting From Diseases and Increasing Soil Suppressiveness in West Siberia Conditions

“…Producer strains of contemporary polyfunctional biologics are highly active and more competitive than plant pathogens [49]. If the formulation of such biologics contains components that enhance total suppressiveness, i.e., when biologics combine the inoculants, biofertilizers and biopesticides functions it is possible to observe both total and induced suppressivities enhancing due to reshaped microbiomes [21,39,50].…”

“…That is, microbiocontrol represents an alternative to chemicals use with the advantages of wider application and reduced environmental impact [18,19]. The use of protective biologics contributes to soil biological activity and its suppressiveness increase [20,21]. This in turn leads to plant diseases caused by pathogenic microorganisms decreasing, agroecosystems phytosanitary improving, and yields increasing [22,23].…”

Multirecycled polyfunctional biologics based on Bacillus subtilistogether with compost in potato organic farming

“…The second way makes the arti cial saturation of biocenosis by various polyfunctional biologics applying, the producer strains of which are the microorganisms that possess not only antagonistic, but also soilfertilizing, phytoregulatory, and other properties due to their polyfunctionality: the ability to synthesize a wide range of secondary metabolites [9,26] . High ecological adaptability of such microorganisms is the result of their polyfunctionality [27] . The particular necessity lies in the technologies development for biologics producing and applying used in organic farming [28] .…”

Genomic and phenotypic analyses reveal Paenibacillus polymyxa PJH16 is a potential biocontrol agent against cucumber fusarium wilt

“…Biological control is a powerful option for treating bacterial and fungal infections. Therefore, microbial biocontrol agents (BCA) have been developed over the past few decades such as employing biocontrol bacteria to manage plant diseases, decrease the reliance on chemical pesticides and promote sustainable agriculture ( Maciag et al, 2023 ). At present, many bacteria from different genera have been identified as biocontrol agents, including Bacillus , Paenibacillus , Agrobacterium , Bradyrhizobium , Acinetobacter , Azospirillum , Azotobacter , Pseudomonas , Rhizobium , and Streptomyces ( Ayaz et al, 2021 ).…”