Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
4.5
2.9
Journals
Forests
Special Issues
The Potential of Biological Agents in Controlling Diseases, Pests, and...
share announcement

The Potential of Biological Agents in Controlling Diseases, Pests, and Improving the Growth of Forest and Fruit Trees

A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Forest Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 August 2023) | Viewed by 1280

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Young Sang Ahn

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Forest Resources, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Chonnam National University, Gwangju 61186, Republic of Korea
Interests: biological control; biostimulants; bioactive compounds; natural enemies
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Chemical pesticides have been widely used in forests to sustain wood resources and reduce landscape degradation. Due to the overuse of chemical pesticides over the past few decades, and their subsequent deleterious environmental consequences, the exploration of biological techniques for the management of tree diseases and pests is important. It is pivotal that future strategies of wood resource management incorporate the use of microbial agents and natural enemies to reduce the use of chemical protection products to mitigate emerging challenges such as pollution, pesticide resistance, and the potential toxicity of pesticides and pesticide residues in forest products. Among the several biocontrol techniques, microorganisms that are beneficial for tree growth and health are applied as biopesticides, microbial fertilizers, and biostimulants to control tree diseases and pests and to improve the wood yield and quality of forest products. These environmentally friendly biological agents have attracted significant attention as a sustainable solution for disease and pest management and for improving the growth and yield of trees. Natural enemies and parasitoids are also vital in maintaining pest populations below the threshold in specific environments. In addition, studies that add to scientific knowledge about natural products such as plant extracts or their combinations with other strategies of pest and disease management are also important in ameliorating the dangers associated with the misuse of synthetic chemicals in tree growth and management.

In this Special Issue, all aspects related to the biological control of pests and diseases, integrated pest and disease management, and plant growth promotion of forest trees (including fruit trees, medicinal, and ornamental plants) will be considered. The Special Issue will welcome studies involving the use of natural enemies, parasitoids, and microbial agents for the biocontrol of pests and diseases. In addition, studies involving the use of microbes in soil management, phytohormones, and induced systemic resistance and stress tolerance of trees against biotic and abiotic factors in greenhouse and field experiments are welcome for submission.

Prof. Dr. Young Sang Ahn
Guest Editor

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. Forests is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 2600 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

  • biocontrol of pests and diseases
  • microbial metabolites and phytohormones/signaling molecules
  • forest microbiome, biostimulants, and microbial fertilizers
  • natural enemies, parasitoids, and natural/organic pesticides
  • forest products/resources and fruit trees

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

12 pages, 2238 KiB  
Article
The Anti-Termite Activity of Bacillus licheniformis PR2 against the Subterranean Termite, Reticulitermes speratus kyushuensis Morimoto (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae)
by Jae-Hyun Moon, Henry B. Ajuna, Sang-Jae Won, Vantha Choub, Su-In Choi, Ju-Yeol Yun, Won Joung Hwang, Sang Wook Park and Young Sang Ahn
Forests 2023, 14(5), 1000; https://doi.org/10.3390/f14051000 - 12 May 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1659
Abstract
Subterranean termites of the species Reticulitermes speratus kyushuensis Morimoto (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) are notoriously destructive soil-dwelling pests that feed on the cellulosic wood biomass. This leads to tremendous losses of forest trees such as Pinus densiflora Siebold and Zucc. (Pinales: Pinaceae) and precious wooden [...] Read more.
Subterranean termites of the species Reticulitermes speratus kyushuensis Morimoto (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) are notoriously destructive soil-dwelling pests that feed on the cellulosic wood biomass. This leads to tremendous losses of forest trees such as Pinus densiflora Siebold and Zucc. (Pinales: Pinaceae) and precious wooden structures of cultural heritage. This study investigated the efficacy of chitinase and protease produced by Bacillus licheniformis PR2 as cuticle-degrading enzymes for the biocontrol of worker termites. Bacillus licheniformis PR2 produced a strong chitinase and protease activity up to a maximum of 82.3 unit/mL and 35.9 unit/mL, respectively, and caused a lethal effect on termites under laboratory conditions. Treatment of termites with the bacterial broth culture and the crude enzyme fraction of B. licheniformis PR2 resulted in a maximum mortality rate (with a median lethal time (ET50)) of 83.3% (3 h, 36 min) and 88.9% (2 h, 59 min), respectively. The termites treated with B. licheniformis PR2 exhibited loss of setae, disintegration of epicuticle, rupturing of procuticle, and swelling at sockets. The degradation of cuticular chitin and glycoprotein polymers in the termite cuticle by chitinase and protease enzymes produced by B. licheniformis PR2 represents an effective eco-friendly strategy for controlling termite damage in Korean cultural heritage sites and forests. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Potential of Biological Agents in Controlling Diseases, Pests, and Improving the Growth of Forest and Fruit Trees)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-1
Back to TopTop