Reviews
Biocontrol News and Information includes review articles written by experts in the field of biological control. The abstracts of these review articles are available to PEST CABWeb® subscribers as html files, readable by any browser. The complete articles (including graphics, tables etc) are provided as PDF files. In order to view these files you will need to install the Adobe Acrobat viewer. This can be downloaded free of charge from the Adobe Web Site at : http://www.adobe.com
BNI December 2007 Vol. 28 No. 2, reprinted from Perspectives in Agriculture, Veterinary Science, Nutrition and Natural Resources
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The potential of Lysobacter spp. as bacterial biological control agents . |
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The genus Lysobacter was established in the late 1970s to encompass strains of gliding bacteria that are morphologically and genetically distinct from other groups of myxobacteria. Strains were known to produce an impressive array of extracellular lytic enzymes and novel antibiotics that were associated with antagonistic activity towards a broad range of micro-organisms including fungi, nematodes and other bacteria. Characterization of these features was the subject of early research with Lysobacter strains, with the primary objective of identifying novel pharmaceuticals. Over the past decade, however, increased recognition of microbial antagonism displayed by Lysobacter spp. has led to investigations into their use as biological control agents of plant diseases. As a result, Lysobacter spp. are seen as valuable resources for biorationale approaches to plant disease control. In this review, we discuss: (i) the historical background of the Lysobacter group; (ii) the characterization of mechanisms contributing to microbial antagonism displayed by its members; (iii) our current knowledge of biocontrol by specific strains, including their ecological and biological behaviours; and (iv) the relationship of various mechanisms to biocontrol activity.
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