S. B. Chincholkar and K. G. Mukerji (eds): Biological Control of Plant Diseases

Abstract

Biological disease control continues to increase in significance as chemical pesticides are withdrawn and environmental pressures stimulate the search for alternate disease control measures. Consequently, a book that aims to ‘‘act as a catalyst in ushering newer ideas to provide meaningful solutions to intricate problems in plant disease biocontrol technology’’ should be a valuable addition to the literature. Its purported target readership is very wide including ‘‘scholars, scientists, agriculturalists, plant pathologists, administrators and enlightened farmers’’ and so much was expected. The first chapter by Berg is highly focused on the control of soilborne pathogens in strawberries. Perhaps an odd choice when some form of introductory overview of biological control of plant disease may have been expected. Nevertheless, the author skilfully brings in relevant information from other systems to provide a good balanced review of the organisms identified and used for biocontrol in this plant species, particularly the rhizosphere, as well as outlining the screening procedures and application techniques for biological control agents (BCAs) on strawberry. There are then two chapters on the role and use of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) for disease control. Chapter 2 (Demir and Akkopru) has seven pages of background before the main subject is reached and then the rest of the time is spent describing mechanisms of disease biocontrol with AMF. This is odd as the topic of the following Chapter 3 (Sharma et al.) is also concerned with mechanisms of AMF biocontrol. Together the basic concepts associated with the use of AMF fungi for biocontrol of plant diseases are covered but there are few references quoted after 2000 and the information may not be fully up-to-date. I also find it strange that there are two chapters on AMF as biocontrol agents whereas there is no mention in either of these chapters, or elsewhere in the book, concerning the large literature on the use of ectomycorrhizal fungi for control of plant diseases. Chapter 4 (by Rosas) is entitled ‘‘The role of rhizobacteria in biological control of plant disease’’. This topic is enough for a book on its own and, not surprisingly, the review has to focus, and mechanisms involved in rhizobacterial biocontrol is the topic selected. Aspects concerning the role of antibiotics, siderophores, extracellular enzymes and induced resistance are all covered superficially but provide a good basic introduction to the area. The following Chapter 5 is unique in the book in both having the greatest number of authors (13) and a strange combination of part review and part research paper considering bacterial root tip colonisation associated with biological control of tomato foot and root rot. It outlines the procedures used by the team over 15 years of studying the mechanisms associated with J. M. Whipps (&) Warwick HRI, University of Warwick, Wellesbourne, Warwick CV35 9EF, UK e-mail: John.Whipps@warwick.ac.uk