Why do we need alternative methods for fungal disease management in plants?

Authors: MCLAUGHLIN, MICHAEL - Aafc Lethrdge Research Center; ROY, MARIA - Aafc Lethrdge Research Center; ABBASI, PERVAIZ - Aafc Lethrdge Research Center; CARISSE, ODILE - Aafc Lethrdge Research Center; Yurgel, Svetlana; ALI, SHAWKAT - Aafc Lethrdge Research Center

Submitted to: Plants
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/7/2023
Publication Date: 11/10/2023
Citation: McLaughlin, M.S., Roy, M., Abbasi, P.A., Carisse, O., Yurgel, S., Ali, S. 2023. Why do we need alternative methods for fungal disease management in plants? Plants. 12(22). Article 3822. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12223822.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12223822

Interpretive Summary: Fungal infections are one of the most important threats to food production worldwide, and for decades growers have been reliant on chemical fungicides to protect their crops. Unfortunately the use of these chemicals can severely impact human and environmental health. For decades researchers have been hard at work developing more eco-friendly alternative forms of disease control with the hopes of replacing, either partially or fully, the use of chemical fungicides. These include the use of plant defense elicitors, biological agents, biofungicides, resistance breeding and RNA interference technology. This work reviews the conventional and alternative methods available to manage fungal pathogens, discusses their strengths and weaknesses, and identifies areas of potential interest for future research.

Technical Abstract: Fungal pathogens are a major threat to food production worldwide. Traditionally, the primary means of controlling these pathogens has been the use of chemical fungicides. Recently, however, many of these fungicides have come under increased scrutiny due to their negative effects on human, animals, and environment health. On the other hand, applications of fungicides with a lesser impact on the environment are generally likely to lead to the development of resistance in populations of phytopathogenic fungi. Thus, new environmentally friendly alternative tools are necessary to replace chemical fungicides (completely or at least partially) while providing adequate levels of disease control. Several alternatives to conventional chemical fungicides have been developed, including plant defence elicitors (PDEs), biological control agents (fungi, bacteria, mycoviruses), biofungicides, RNA interference (RNAi) and resistance breeding. This work reviews the conventional and alternative methods available to manage fungal pathogens, discusses their strengths and weaknesses, and identifies areas of potential interest for future research.