Bacteriophage-Assisted Diagnostics and Management of Plant Diseases

Abstract

The threat of insects and diseases to plants is constant in the natural world. One of the major pathogen groups that infect different plant species and cause diseases having detrimental impact on plant development and agricultural productivity is pathogenic bacteria. In order to manage bacterial plant diseases, chemical bactericides and antibiotics have been utilised extensively. However, the emergence of bacteria that are resistant to traditional antibiotics and bactericides, as well as their potential adverse effects on the environment and human health, necessitate the development of alternative and ecologically safe control strategies by the scientific community. Bacteriophages, or bacteria eater, have been shown to be potential agents for management of bacterial diseases as they are not harmful to the environment or human health and can only infect and destroy the target pathogenic bacteria very specifically. The ability to target certain disease-causing microorganisms with customised phage mixtures makes phage biocontrol superior than chemical controls. Phage combinations, as opposed to conventional pesticides, are easily adaptable to bacterial resistance that may arise over time. Moreover, this ability of bacteriophages to target specific bacterial species has also been used to create diagnostic tools for the detection of bacteria that cause plant diseases. We will provide a summary of how bacteriophages are used to control and detect plant diseases brought on by plant-pathogenic bacteria in this chapter. We will also discuss the benefits and drawbacks of utilising bacteriophages as management and detection tools.