Ecological alternatives for disease management of fruit rot pathogens

Abstract

Biological control of plant pathogens utilises one microorganism to eliminate or reduce the disease caused by another Inundative biological control utilises naturallyoccurring microbial antagonists (biological control agents) that are isolated and reapplied in large numbers to suppress disease This strategy has been studied for over 40 years and a number of commercial products for fruit rot control have been developed Recent advances in techniques for monitoring microbial population dynamics such as denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) microarrays fluorescent in situ hybridisation (FISH) and the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) have made it easier to study an alternative strategy restorative biological control This aims to stimulate resident populations of biological control agents (BCAs) using benign interventions that do not harm microorganisms The use of these techniques is reviewed and their advantages and disadvantages are compared The relevance of these techniques to the development of restorative biological control and future research to lead to improved disease management of fruit rots are discussed