Biological Control of Agricultural and Forestry Plant Diseases

Dear Colleagues,

In the face of escalating concerns over chemical pesticide use, the quest for sustainable and eco-friendly disease management strategies has never been more urgent. This Special Issue of Plants, entitled “Biological Control of Agricultural and Forestry Plant Diseases”, aims to spotlight innovative research and advancements in the biological control of plant diseases within the realms of agriculture and forestry. We invite researchers and practitioners to contribute original research articles, reviews, minireviews, and short communications that explore the use of biological agents and natural mechanisms to combat plant pathogens and diseases.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Mechanisms of action of biological control agents (BCAs) against plant diseases;
• Advances in microbial, botanical, and bio-molecular agents for disease control;
• Integration of biological control methods into existing disease management systems;
• Impact assessments of biological control on crop yield and forest health;
• Innovations in biotechnological and genetic engineering approaches for enhanced disease resistance;
• Ecological and environmental implications of deploying biological control strategies;
• Case studies on successful implementation of biological control in agricultural and forestry settings.

Submission Guidelines:

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted up to the deadline. All submissions will undergo a rigorous peer-review process, assessing their originality, technical quality, and contribution to the field. This Special Issue presents a timely opportunity to advance our understanding and application of biological control methods, paving the way for safer, more sustainable disease management practices in agriculture and forestry. We look forward to your contributions and to advancing the discourse in this critical area of research.

Prof. Dr. Ben Fan
Prof. Dr. Jia-Jin Tan
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Plants is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• biological control
• plant beneficial rhizobacteria
• Bacillus velezensis
• Bacillus subtilis
• plant probiotics
• forest pathology
• plant nematology