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Biological Control Strategies for Managing Major Bacterial Diseases in Horticultural...
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Biological Control Strategies for Managing Major Bacterial Diseases in Horticultural Crops

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Protection and Biotic Interactions".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2025 | Viewed by 1479

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Nicoletta Pucci

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Research Centre for Plant Protection and Certification, Council for Agricultural Research and Economics (CREA), 00156 Roma, Italy
Interests: diagnosis and quality management in plant bacteriology (ISO 17025 accreditation); collection of phytopathogenic bacteria; biological and epidemiological research and development/validation of diagnostic protocols in plant bacteriology; crop protection; technical advice on national and international phytosanitary issues.
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Scala Valeria

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Research Centre for Plant Protection and Certification, Council for Agricultural Research and Economics (CREA), 00156 Roma, Italy
Interests: diagnoses in plant bacteriology; collection of plant pathogenic bacteria; test development and validation of diagnostic protocols; crop protection; biological and epidemiological research
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The incidence of bacterial diseases in horticultural crops is increasing due to the lack of effective control measures, concerns over the environmental and human health impacts of copper-based products, and the emergence of resistance.

Consequently, there is growing interest in alternative methods such as biocontrol agents, their secondary metabolites, and natural extracts, which aim to reduce chemical pollution and residues in soils and plants.

Biocontrol agents, both as organisms and as source of biopesticides/biostimulants, and active natural molecules are employed to develop formulations that will enable the safe and efficient delivery of biopesticides and biostimulants for the management of bacterial plant diseases.

This Special Issue seeks to highlight the importance of new eco-friendly strategies for plant health management with a low environmental impact. Furthermore, it aims to showcase studies that adopt a circular economy perspective, particularly those focusing on the reuse of agro-industrial waste.

Dr. Nicoletta Pucci
Dr. Scala Valeria
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.

Keywords

  • bacterial plant diseases
  • biocontrol agents
  • active natural molecules
  • biopesticides/biostimulants
  • circular economy

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (2 papers)

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24 pages, 7743 KiB  
Article
Physiological Response of Olive Trees Under Xylella fastidiosa Infection and Thymol Therapy Monitored Through Advanced IoT Sensors
by Claudia Cagnarini, Paolo De Angelis, Dario Liberati, Riccardo Valentini, Valentina Falanga, Franco Valentini, Crescenza Dongiovanni, Mauro Carrieri and Maria Vincenza Chiriacò
Plants 2025, 14(9), 1380; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14091380 - 2 May 2025
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Abstract
Since its first detection in 2013, Xylella fastidiosa subsp. pauca (Xfp) has caused a devastating Olive Quick Decline Syndrome (OQDS) outbreak in Southern Italy. Effective disease surveillance and treatment strategies are urgently needed to mitigate its impact. This study investigates the [...] Read more.
Since its first detection in 2013, Xylella fastidiosa subsp. pauca (Xfp) has caused a devastating Olive Quick Decline Syndrome (OQDS) outbreak in Southern Italy. Effective disease surveillance and treatment strategies are urgently needed to mitigate its impact. This study investigates the short-term (1.5 years) effects of thymol-based treatments on infected olive trees of the susceptible cultivar Cellina di Nardò in two orchards in Salento, Apulia region. Twenty trees per trial received a 3% thymol solution either alone or encapsulated in a cellulose nanoparticle carrier. Over two years, sap flux density and canopy-transmitted solar radiation were monitored using TreeTalker sensors, and spectral greenness indices were calculated. Xfp cell concentrations in plant tissues were quantified via qPCR. Neither thymol treatment halted disease progression nor significantly reduced bacterial load, though the Xfp cell concentration reduction increased over time in the preventive trial. Symptomatic trees exhibited increased sap flux density, though the treatment mitigated this effect in the curative trial. Greenness indices remained lower in infected trees, but the response to symptom severity was delayed. These findings underscore the need for longer-term studies, investigation of synergistic effects with other phytocompounds, and integration of real-time sensor data into adaptive disease management protocols. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biological Control Strategies for Managing Major Bacterial Diseases in Horticultural Crops)
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16 pages, 2868 KiB  
Article
Microfluidic Array Enables Rapid Testing of Natural Compounds Against Xylella fastidiosa
by Francesca Costantini, Erica Cesari, Nicola Lovecchio, Marco Scortichini, Valeria Scala, Stefania Loreti and Nicoletta Pucci
Plants 2025, 14(6), 872; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14060872 - 11 Mar 2025
Viewed by 750
Abstract
The bacterial pathogen Xylella fastidiosa (Xf), which causes several plant diseases with significant economic impacts on agriculture and the environment, remains a challenge to manage due to its wide host range. This study investigated the in vitro antibacterial effects of natural [...] Read more.
The bacterial pathogen Xylella fastidiosa (Xf), which causes several plant diseases with significant economic impacts on agriculture and the environment, remains a challenge to manage due to its wide host range. This study investigated the in vitro antibacterial effects of natural compounds, including Trametes versicolor extract, clove essential oil, and the resistance inducer FossilⓇ, against X. fastidiosa subsp. fastidiosa using an antibacterial susceptibility testing (AST) method based on microfluidic channels. This novel method was compared with the traditional broth macrodilution method to assess its reliability and the potential advantages microfluidics offers. For each substance and test, both the ability to limit planktonic growth (reported as the minimum inhibitory concentration) and the ability to inhibit biofilm formation were evaluated. The results suggest that compared to the macrodilution method, microfluidic channels allow for a more rapid AST execution, use less material, and allow for real-time observation of bacterial behavior under a continuous flow of nutrients and antibacterial substances. All tested products demonstrated high antibacterial efficacy against Xf with the macrodilution method, yielding comparable results with microfluidic AST. These findings highlight the antimicrobial properties of the tested substances and establish the groundwork for applying this new technique to select promising eco-friendly products for potential future field applications in controlling Xf. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biological Control Strategies for Managing Major Bacterial Diseases in Horticultural Crops)
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