Microbial and Plant-Based Compounds as Alternatives for the Control of Phytopathogenic Bacteria

Abstract

Plant pathogens pose a significant threat to agricultural productivity and food security worldwide. The use of traditional chemical pesticides for plant disease management raises concerns due to the emergence of pesticide resistance and their potential adverse effects on human health and the environment. As a result, there is a growing interest in exploring alternative approaches for plant disease control. This review provides an overview of the antimicrobial potential of some plant-derived compounds, including essential oils, plant extracts, wastes and their major constituents, against plant pathogenic bacteria. The antimicrobial activity is attributed to the diverse chemical composition of these plant-derived compounds and their ability to target multiple cellular processes in pathogens’ cells. Furthermore, the review explores the use of some antagonistic bacteria and fungi as control tools. These beneficial microorganisms have shown promising results in suppressing the growth of plant pathogens through various mechanisms such as competition, antibiosis and induced systemic resistance. This review discusses the advantages and limitations of using plant-derived compounds and antagonistic microorganisms for plant disease management. Moreover, it highlights the need for further research to optimize their efficacy, develop sustainable formulations and evaluate their performance under field conditions.

Olive mill wastewater as a source of by-products promoting plant defense against microbial pathogens

“…While, in CUF fraction, bioactive OGs may contribute to the protective effect against pathogen infection, in PUF the protective effect of the fraction could be attributed to other bioactive molecules, such as phenols and flavonoids. The antimicrobial activity of phenols, has been explored by several authors and has been associated to plant resistance to phytopathogens, suggesting a possible application of these compounds as biopesticides in agriculture (Yakhlef et al ., 2018, Abbattista et al ., 2021, Košćak et al ., 2023, Zhu et al ., 2024).…”

Subtractive genome mining in Xanthomonas citri pv. citri strain 306 for identifying novel drug target proteins coupled with in-depth protein-protein interaction and coevolution analysis - A leap towards prospective drug design

“…The main constraint of food production and its actual utilisation rely on many factors among which crop loss is of great concern. Different plant diseases alone attribute to approximately 10% of global food production loss and therefore, warrants e cient disease management system to avoid the wastage (Košćak et al 2023). Citrus fruits, cultivated and produced roughly around 140 countries, play a very important role to the global economy (Syed-Ab- Rahman et al 2022).…”

Biofungicides Based on Plant Extracts: On the Road to Organic Farming

“…The ultimate impact of the losses takes the form of insufficient food production and chronic hunger. The severity of this problem is rapidly being exacerbated by increasing urbanization, climate change, and the emergence of phytopathogens resistant to commercial fungicides [2]. According to a recent assessment of the projections of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs report, the current world population will increase from 7.3 billion to 8.5 billion people by 2030; it will reach more than 9.5 billion in 2050 and more than 11 billion in 2100 [3].…”