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A systematic review about biological control of phytopathogenic Phytophthora cinnamomi

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Abstract

The oomycetes of the genus Phytophthora have the most aggressive species for agriculture and forestry, such as Phytophthora sojae which is responsible for soybean root rot, Phytophthora infestans responsible for the potato downy mildew that caused the diaspora in Ireland in the nineteenth-century, and Phytophthora cinnamomi that affects a wide variety of tree species, from avocado in America, trees in Oceania to European chestnut trees. P. cinnamomi reproduces either sexually or asexually and asexual zoospores can live as saprotrophs and subsist in the soil long after death and removal of host plants. Controlling this organism is very challenging for researchers due to the limited range of effective chemical inhibitors. In this work, we present a systematic review of alternatives for biocontrol of Phytophthora in general and P. cinnamomi in particular. Our literature review indicates that Trichoderma spp., mainly Trichoderma harzianum, T. virens, and T. asperellum are very promising fungal species in the control of different Phytophthora spp. The Bacillus genus is also very promising in the control and inhibition of several Phytophthoras spp.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) and FEDER under Programme PT2020 for financial support to CIMO (UID/AGR/00690/2019).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemistry, Institute of Basic Health Sciences, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Ramiro Barcelo’s street, 2600, 90035-003, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

    Darling de Andrade Lourenço

  2. Centro de Investigação de Montanha (CIMO), Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Campus de Santa Apolónia, 5300-253, Bragança, Portugal

    Iuliia Branco & Altino Choupina

  3. Centro de Investigação de Montanha (CIMO) - Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Campus Santa Apolónia, 5301-855, Bragança, Portugal

    Altino Choupina

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  1. Darling de Andrade Lourenço
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  2. Iuliia Branco
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  3. Altino Choupina
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study’s conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Darling de Andrade Lourenço. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Darling de Andrade Lourenço and Altino Choupina and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. Supervision: Altino Branco Choupina.

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Correspondence to Altino Choupina.

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de Andrade Lourenço, D., Branco, I. & Choupina, A. A systematic review about biological control of phytopathogenic Phytophthora cinnamomi. Mol Biol Rep 49, 9947–9962 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-022-07547-2

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