Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) and fungi (PGPF): Potential biological control agents of diseases and pests

Abstract

Biological control agents (BCAs) are gaining more attention as alternatives to the chemical pesticides for management of pests and diseases in agricultures. It offers an ecofriendly way for plant health management (PHM), and it also helps to reduce the excessive use of toxic chemicals or pesticides. The BCAs considered as the most promising technology for sustainable agriculture. Various beneficial BCAs have been known for PHM but need effective adoption together with standardization of bioformulations for field applications. The mechanisms of BCAs in PHM mainly include direct (parasitism, hyperparasitism, commensalism), indirect (competition, systemic acquired or induced systemic resistance), or mixed antagonistic modes (production of antibiotics, siderophores, lytic enzyme, and volatile organic substances). Apart from their role in plant growth promotion, plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) and fungi (PGPF) also act as BCAs that function through either of the mechanisms. The PGPR/PGPF possesses many traits that serve them as potential BCAs, and therefore possess great promise for successful application in sustainable agriculture. In this chapter, different approaches for BCAs applications and their mechanism in PHM especially for disease and pest (DP) management are discussed. Also, the relationship between the PGPR/PGPF diversity and their application in biological control is discussed. Furthermore, we have summarized the global-Indian scenario of current research including state-of-the-art technological advances in PGPR/PGPF-mediated DP management. ? Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2019.