ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Plant Pathogen Interactions
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2025.1659069
This article is part of the Research TopicNon-chemical Strategies for Managing Plant Diseases and Abiotic StressesView all 3 articles
Breeding for Integrated Pest Management (B-IPM): a new concept simultaneously optimising plant resistance and biocontrol
Provisionally accepted
- Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet - Campus Alnarp, Alnarp, Sweden
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Plant breeding for disease resistance typically focuses on the traits that target pathogens, although such traits may antagonise beneficial microbes, thus thwarting any opportunities for biocontrol. In this paper, we propose the concept of breeding for integrated pest management (B-IPM) which requires the simultaneous optimisation of plant traits that confer resistance to pathogens and facilitation of biocontrol agents. We tested the prospects for B-IPM by screening wild strawberry (Fragaria vesca) genotypes for resistance to the detrimental pathogens Botrytis cinerea (causing grey mould disease) and Colletotrichum acutatum (causing anthracnose disease) and facilitation of the beneficial biocontrol agent Aureobasidium pullulans. The plant genotypes showed strong variation in their resistance to the two pathogens and their ability to facilitate biocontrol. However, while the resistance of plant genotypes to both pathogens was strongly correlated, there was no correlation between this and facilitating biocontrol, suggesting that resistance and biocontrol facilitation can be independently optimised to prepare plants for pesticide-free farming.
Keywords: Aureobasidium pullulans, biological control, Botrytis cinerea, Breeding forIntegrated Pest Management (B-IPM), Colletotrichum acutatum, Fragaria vesca, postharvestdisease resistance
Received: 03 Jul 2025; Accepted: 26 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Iqbal, Flöhr, Andreasson and Stenberg. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Mudassir Iqbal, Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet - Campus Alnarp, Alnarp, Sweden
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