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Call for papers - Biocontrol strategies: an eco-smart tool for integrated pest & diseases management

Guest Editors:
Suresh Janardhan Gawande: (ICAR-Directorate of Onion and Garlic Research, Pune, India) 
Durgesh Kumar Jaiswal: (Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune, India)
Ram Krishna: (ICAR-Indian Institute of Vegetable Research, Varanasi, India)
Soumia P. S.: (ICAR-Directorate of Onion and Garlic Research, Pune, India)
Anukool Vaishnav: (University of Zurich, Switzerland)

Submission Status: Open   |   Submission Deadline: 30 June 2023


The Editors of BMC Microbiology, together with BMC Plant Biology and BMC Biotechnology announce the launch and call for research articles on biocontrol strategies. Biocontrol of plant-insect pests and diseases is considered one of the most important and current challenges our society faces for eco-sustainability. Furthermore, increasing insecticide resistance and Modern environmental health hazards (MEHHs) as public health issues due to pesticide exposure and residue are of great concern. Thus, research towards biological control for plant-insect pests and disease management needs time for the worldwide agro-food sector to achieve sustainable development goals (SDGs).

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Meet the Guest Editors

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Suresh Janardhan Gawande, ICAR-Directorate of Onion and Garlic Research, Pune, India

Dr. Suresh Gawande is a Principal Scientist at ICAR-Directorate of Onion and Garlic Research, Pune, India. He obtained his Ph.D. from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India in the discipline of Plant Pathology. His areas of interest are genomics of biotic and abiotic stress, host-pathogen-vector interaction of tospoviruses, biological control, microbial metagenomics, plant-pathogen diagnostics, mechanism of genetic and induced host plant resistance. Currently, he is working on biotechnological approaches for biotic stress management.
 

Durgesh Kumar Jaiswal, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune, India

Durgesh Kumar Jaiswal obtained his Ph.D. in Biotechnology in 2019 at Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India, and is currently a D.S. Kothari Post-doctoral Fellow at Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune, India. His research focuses on micro-biotechnology, soil-microbiology & Sustainable agriculture, primarily based on exploring & formulating the microbial consortium for photostimulation of crops, biodegradation of pesticides, and integrated pest & disease management to provide a sustainable solution for agriculture sustainability.

Ram Krishna, ICAR-Indian Institute of Vegetable Research, Varanasi, India

Dr. Ram Krishna obtained his doctorate from Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development, Banaras Hindu University and presently working as Post-doctoral fellow (Plant-Biotechnology) at ICAR-Indian Institute of Vegetable Research. His research is focused for sustainable agriculture by biotechnological interventions in vegetable crops especially biotic and abiotic stress management through genetic engineering, advance breeding, and microbial application based approaches. He has more than ten years of research experience in biotic and abiotic stress management in crops his major thrust area are transgenic development, gene regulation, plant pathogen interaction, microbial degradation of agrochemicals, novel microbe identification for sustainable agriculture.

Soumia P. S., ICAR-Directorate of Onion and Garlic Research, Pune, India

Soumia P.S. obtained her Ph. D. Degree in Entomology from the ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi and presently working as a Scientist at ICAR- Directorate of Onion and Garlic Research, Pune, India. Her research focuses on different aspects of Insect Pest Management (IPM) especially in Host plant resistance, Biological control, Insect Toxicology, Insect Molecular Biology, Storage entomology and Weather based forecast modeling.  

 

Anukool Vaishnav, University of Zurich, Switzerland

Dr Anukool Vaishnav is working as a Post-Doctoral Scientist (Swiss excellence fellow) at University of Zurich, Switzerland. He is also associated with Department of Biotechnology, GLA University, India as an Assistant Professor. He has operated SERB-National Postdoctoral Fellowship (NPDF) at the Department of Mycology and Plant Pathology, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India. He has 10 years of research experience in the field of plant–microbe interaction. His research is mainly focused on microbial-mediated plant protection against biotic and abiotic stresses and characterization of signaling molecules and secondary metabolites (soluble and VOCs) in plant holobionts. As an active researcher, he has about 50 publications including research articles, review articles and book chapters for reputed journals and edited books. He is also editor of 8 books published with Springer, CRC Press and Elsevier. Recently, he has awarded one Indian patent and 9 patents are still under examination. He is an editorial member of the journal ‘Frontiers in Microbiology’ and ‘Current Genomics’. He has been awarded with Swiss Excellence Fellowship and several Young Scientist Awards from different agencies.

About the collection

The Editors of BMC Microbiology, together with BMC Plant Biology and BMC Biotechnology announce the launch and call for research articles on biocontrol strategies. Biocontrol of plant-insect pests and diseases is considered one of the most important and current challenges our society faces for eco-sustainability. Furthermore, increasing insecticide resistance and Modern environmental health hazards (MEHHs) as public health issues due to pesticide exposure and residue are of great concern. Thus, research towards biological control for plant-insect pests and disease management needs time for the worldwide agro-food sector to achieve sustainable development goals (SDGs).

Utilization of a plant's defense mechanism is one of the most essential and multidisciplinary undertakings in plant biology that describes the chemical and ecological processes influencing the tri-trophic (plant-pathogen-herbivore) interactions. For example, induced systemic resistance (ISR; or systemic acquired resistance, SAR) could be exploited as an essential tool for insect pests and disease management to minimize pesticide load. By understanding induced resistance mechanisms, we can predict the biotic stress likely to be affected by induced responses. Rhizospheric microorganisms with biocontrol abilities have proved to be a viable alternative. Biological control using microorganisms to elicit ISR against plant diseases has been extensively studied under greenhouse and field conditions. Several studies have shown that the same strain of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) could elicit ISR against several pathogens in the same plant. Likewise, entomopathogenic microorganisms controlled the insect pests and showed antagonists behavior against plant pathogens, plant growth promoters, and efficient rhizosphere colonizers. Hence, these entomopathogenic microorganisms provide a viable option as biocontrol agents in the integrated pest and disease management (IPDM) strategies. Special attention will be given to the combination of design, such as a cocktail of rhizospheric and entomopathogenic microbes for synergistic effects against insect pests and pathogens. 

Under this scope, evaluating natural compounds' emerging pathogenesis or cytotoxic effects should also be a concern. Therefore, exploring the potent biocontrol agents and their combined impact against plant biotic stress is essential. Furthermore, generating knowledge on this eco-smart tool and identifying the feasible management strategies for crop protection in organic and sustainable agriculture is of utmost precedence.

In this collection, entitled "Biocontrol strategies: An Eco-smart tool for integrated pest and diseases management," we encourage researchers to send their research papers or reviews dealing with these areas.

The collection broadly covers and welcomes submissions in the following areas of research:

  • An overview of biocontrol: prospects and challenges.
  • Induced Systemic Resistance (ISR) against Insect pests and pathogens in the context of induced plant defenses
  • How do plants engage with beneficial microorganisms while at the same time restricting pathogens?
  • Role of various beneficial soil microbes and endophytes in plant defense mechanisms.
  • Emerging and potential biocontrol agents used in contemporary agriculture: a case study
  • Genetic improvement of biocontrol agents (natural enemies, parasitoids and microbes) for sustainable pest management
  • Human Risk assessment associated with the deployment of rhizospheric and entomopathogenic microorganisms for pests’ management

Working together: We would like to ensure your manuscript is placed in the most appropriate journal within this collection and, for this reason, the Editors may suggest your manuscript be transferred to another journal within the collection for review. Each manuscript will undergo peer review as normal in the appropriate journal and be included in this collection upon publication.

  1. To explore the community composition and diversity of the endophytic fungi in Taxillus chinensis, samples of the parasites growing on seven different hosts, Morus alba, Prunus salicina, Phellodendron chinense, Ba...

    Authors: Li-sha Song, Juan Huo, Lingyun Wan, Limei Pan, Ni Jiang, Jine Fu, Shugen Wei and Lili He
    Citation: BMC Microbiology 2023 23:128
    Content type: Research Published on:

  2. In our continuing search for biologically active natural enemies from North of Africa with special reference to Tunisian fungi, our teamwork screened fungi from different ecological habitats in Tunisia. Our pr...

    Authors: Lobna Hajji-Hedfi, Wassila Hlaoua, Abdelhak Rhouma, Awatif A. Al-Judaibi, Susana Cobacho Arcos, Lee Robertson, Sergio Ciordia, Najet Horrigue-Raouani, Alfonso Navas and Ahmed M. Abdel-Azeem
    Citation: BMC Microbiology 2023 23:108
    Content type: Research Published on:

  3. Trichoderma asperellum and T. harzianum were assessed in this study as a potential biological control against Colletotrichum truncatum. C. truncatum is a hemibiotrophic fungus that causes anthracnose disease in c...

    Authors: Mukesh Yadav, Kumari Divyanshu, Manish Kumar Dubey, Ashutosh Rai, Sunil Kumar, Yashoda Nandan Tripathi, Vaishali Shukla and Ram Sanmukh Upadhyay
    Citation: BMC Microbiology 2023 23:54
    Content type: Research Published on:

  4. Verticillium wilt, caused by the fungus Verticillium dahliae, leads to significant losses in cotton yield worldwide. Biocontrol management is a promising means of suppressing verticillium wilt. The purpose of the...

    Authors: Lin Zhang, Yu Wang, Shengwei Lei, Hongxin Zhang, Ziyang Liu, Jianwei Yang and Qiuhong Niu
    Citation: BMC Microbiology 2023 23:8
    Content type: Research Article Published on:

  5. For the burgeoning global population, sustainable agriculture practices are crucial for accomplishing the zero-hunger goal. The agriculture sector is very concerned about the rise in insecticide resistance and...

    Authors: Durgesh Kumar Jaiswal, Suresh Janardhan Gawande, P. S. Soumia, Ram Krishna, Anukool Vaishnav and Avinash Bapurao Ade
    Citation: BMC Microbiology 2022 22:324
    Content type: BMC Supplements Reviewed Published on:

  6. Apple (Malus domestica Borkh.) is an important economic crop. The pathological effects of Fusarium solani, a species complex of soilborne pathogens, on the root systems of apple plants was unknown. It was unclear...

    Authors: Mei Wang, Weixiao Tang, Li Xiang, Xuesen Chen, Xiang Shen, Chengmiao Yin and Zhiquan Mao
    Citation: BMC Plant Biology 2022 22:385
    Content type: Research Published on:

Submission Guidelines

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This Collection welcomes submission of Research Articles. Before submitting your manuscript, please ensure you have read the submission guidelines of the journal you are submitting to: BMC Microbiology, BMC Plant Biology, BMC Biotechnology. Articles for this Collection should be submitted via our submission system, SNAPP: BMC Microbiology, BMC Plant Biology or BMC Biotechnology. During the submission process you will be asked whether you are submitting to a Collection, please select "Biocontrol strategies: An Eco-smart tool for integrated pest & diseases management" from the dropdown menu.

Articles will undergo the standard peer-review process of the journal they are considered in BMC Microbiology, BMC Plant Biology, BMC Biotechnology and are subject to all of the journal’s standard policies. Articles will be added to the Collection as they are published.