. Potential of bacilli for biocontrol and their exploitation in sustainable agriculture

CORREA O.S.; SORIA M.A.

Plant growth and health promoting bacteria

SPRINGER-VERLAG BERLIN

Lugar: Berlin; Año: 2010;

UncorrecteAbstract Plant diseases are caused mainly by fungi, bacteria, viruses, and nema-todes, and their control is necessary to feed an increasing population. Control ofplant diseases often rely on chemical pesticides, which have contributed toimprovements in crop productivity and quality over the past years. However, theintensive use of agrochemical pesticides results in soil and groundwater pollution.Consequently, there are worldwide efforts to develop other alternatives to chemicalpesticides for controlling plant diseases. Among them, the use of microorganismsand their products, referred as biological control, are regarded as promissoryalternatives to reduce the use of chemical products. Different Bacillus speciesexcrete peptides and lipopeptides to the culture medium, such as fungicine, iturin,bacillomicine and others, that have antifungal antibacterial and surfactant activity.In addition, these species produce spores that are resistant to heat and desiccation,which allows the preparation of more stable and durable formulations. A variety ofbiological control products based on Bacillus species are available for agronomicaluse; but in order to translate these developments into a broader and more effectiveuse, a greater understanding of the complex interactions among plants, microorgan-isms, and the environment is required. This chapter describes some mechanisms of biocontrol exhibited by species of Bacillus, the current status of research andapplication of biological control using Bacillus species, constraints to microbialbiocontrol implementation, and briefly outlines the future directions that might leadto the development of more diverse and effective biological controls for plantdiseases.