Phytopathogenic Fungi: Stress and Mitigation Approaches

Phytopathogenic fungi are major threat to the agriculture worldwide. Use of chemical fungicides are common practice to reduce recurrence of phytopathogens. These fungicides have harmful effects to the environment and human health as their trace amount gets precipitated in plant tissues meant for consumption. Green and alternate strategies like application of microbial antagonists acting as biocontrol agents have been under exploration since the last few years. Such microbes produce antagonistic compounds and inhibit the phytopathogenic fungi. Other than microbes, essential oils extracted from plants and nanoparticles have also been utilised to counter fungal pathogens. Gene pool from wild relatives of crop plants is another extensively applied methodology to incorporate resistance against phytopathogenic fungi. Therefore, major antagonistic approaches towards phytopathogens were discussed with emphasised attention to microbial biological control agents and their mode of action.