backgoround: plant diseases, caused by a wide range of phytopathogenic fungi, could be managed using of trichoderma sp, as a biocontrol agent. cell wall degrading enzymes like chitinase from t. harzianum are important means for fungal pathogen inhibition. overexpression of these chitinase enzymes can improve the antagonistic potential of trichoderma sp. strains. objectives: this study aimed to ...

Pectobacterium atrosepticum is a common phytopathogen causing significant economic losses worldwide. To develop a biocontrol strategy for this blackleg pathogen of solanaceous plants, P. atrosepticum bacteriophage Peat1 was isolated and its genome completely sequenced. Interestingly, morphological and sequence analyses of the 45,633-bp genome revealed that phage Peat1 is a member of the family ...

Although entomogenous nenmtodes generally have many of the attributes of the ideal biocontrol agent, many of these attributes make the nematodes less than desirable for commercial production. Environmental limitations, lack of patent protection, "shelf life," shipping problems, and the need for users to receive specialized training are factors that have discouraged the involvement of larger com...

Losses in crop yields due to disease need to be reduced in order to meet increasing global food demands associated with growth in the human population. There is a well-recognized need to develop new environmentally friendly control strategies to combat bacterial crop disease. Current control measures involving the use of traditional chemicals or antibiotics are losing their efficacy due to the ...

Species of the epiphytic fungus Pseudozyma are not pathogenic to plants and can be used as biocontrol agents against plant pathogens. Deciphering how they induce plant defense might contribute to their use for plant protection and expand our understanding of molecular plant-pathogen interactions. Here we show that Pseudozyma aphidis isolate L12, which is known to induce jasmonic acid- and salic...

Bacteriophages (phages) are viruses that infect bacterial hosts, and since their discovery over a century ago they have been primarily exploited to control bacterial populations and to serve as tools in molecular biology. In this commentary, we highlight recent diverse advances in the field of phage research, going beyond bacterial control using whole phage, to areas including biocontrol using ...

debaryomyces hansenizopf isolated from the fructoplane of apples were found to be effective as biocontrol agent against rot of papaya caused by ulocladium. chartarum(pr.) simm. the ability of d. hansenii to prevent infection of u. chartarum was lost when the antagonist cells were killed by autoclaving. cell free culture filtrates of antagonist were unable to prevent disease incidence. efficacy ...

striga hermonthica is a parasitic weed which largely constrains maize and sorghum production in western kenya. the weed mostly invades small scale farms and depending on severity, it may cause damage ranging from 10% to complete crop failure thereby aggravating the food insecurity in that region. this study aimed at evaluating fungal isolates as possible biocontrol agents against the weed. fung...

weed biocontrol by using eriophid mites could be a safe and efficient strategy. in order to find an ecological non-chemical approach for controlling of weeds, and studying the possibility of using eriophyid mites, field surveys were conducted in razavi khorasan and north khorasan provinces during spring 2010. collecting of mites was carried out at all of the vegetative and reproductive stages o...

the biological control ability of fluorescent pseudomonas spp. results from competition for space and untrient, antibiosis and colonization in the rhizosphere. biocontrol fluorescent pseudomonads produce a wide variety of antibiotics. in this study, the biocontrol ability of 39 strains of biocontrol pseudomonas fluorescens, was examined against fusarium graminearum the causal agent of wheat fus...