Plant Disease Biocontrol and Induced Resistance via Fungal Mycoparasites

Abstract

Today, more than ever, the development of safer and environmentally feasible plant disease control alternatives has become a top priority due to the adverse effects of pesticides that create health hazards for human and other nontarget organisms. In this context, biological control is becoming an urgently needed component of modern agriculture. Biological control may be achieved by both direct and indirect strategies. The latter include the use of organic soil amendments, cross-protection, and induction of plant self-defense mechanisms. The direct approach involves the introduction of specific microbial antagonists into soil or plant material. Antagonistic interactions among microorganisms in nature include parasitism, antibiosis, and competition. In this chapter, we concentrate on mycoparasitism and plant-induced resistance, while emphasizing examples in which the research spans both basic and applied aspects of the phenomena.