AUTHOR=El-Saadony Mohamed T. , Saad Ahmed M. , Soliman Soliman M. , Salem Heba M. , Ahmed Alshaymaa I. , Mahmood Mohsin , El-Tahan Amira M. , Ebrahim Alia A. M. , Abd El-Mageed Taia A. , Negm Shaimaa H. , Selim Samy , Babalghith Ahmad O. , Elrys Ahmed S. , El-Tarabily Khaled A. , AbuQamar Synan F. 

TITLE=Plant growth-promoting microorganisms as biocontrol agents of plant diseases: Mechanisms, challenges and future perspectives

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=Volume 13 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2022.923880

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2022.923880

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=Plant diseases and pests are risk factors that threaten global food security. Excessive chemical pesticide applications are commonly used to reduce the effects of plant diseases caused by bacterial and fungal pathogens. A major concern, as we strive towards more sustainable agriculture, is to increase crop yields for the increasing population. Microbial biological control agents (MBCAs) have proved their efficacy to be a green strategy to manage plant diseases, stimulate plant growth and performance, and increase yields. Besides their role in growth enhancement, plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria/fungi (PGPR/PGPF) could suppress plant diseases by generating pathogen-antagonizing chemicals and inducing immune responses in plants. As biofertilizers and biopesticides, PGPR and PGPF are considered as feasible, attractive economic approach for sustainable agriculture; thus, resulting in a “win-win” situation. Several PGPR and PGPF strains have been identified as effective BCAs under environmentally controlled conditions. In general, any MBCA must overcome certain challenges before it can be registered or widely utilized to control diseases/pests. Successful MBCAs, as antagonists and BCAs, offer a practical solution to improve greenhouse crop performance with reduced fertilizer inputs and chemical pesticide applications. This review aims to fill the gap in the current knowledge of plant growth-promoting microbes (PGPM), provide attention about the scientific basis for policy development, and recommend further research related to the applications of PGPM used for commercial purposes.