Host Plant Resistance and Biological Control of Insect Pests

Dear Colleagues,

Botanical pesticides can be used effectively to manage a wide variety of plant and crop pests, and they have the added benefits of being cheap, readily biodegradable, having multiple modes of action, coming from abundant sources, and posing little to no risk to non-target organisms. They can be used in conjunction with IPM and biological pest control (IPM). The unique phytochemical profiles of various plants explain the wide range of their biological effects. From the time of sowing until the time of harvest and storage, crops and stored products in agriculture and horticulture are constantly at risk from pests (such as arthropods, diseases, and weeds). As a result, farmers frequently resort to quick fixes such as synthetic pesticides in order to combat these pests and safeguard their crops. Most synthetic pesticides do not break down naturally in the environment, so they persist in the soil and pollute the water table. Botanical pesticides are biodegradable, effective, and do not contaminate soil or ground water. The plants used to make botanical pesticides come from a wide variety of plant families. Plant-based pesticides (also known as "botanical pesticides") are effective in preventing pests from laying eggs and feeding on crops.

A major problem arises when insects or weeds are unintentionally transported to a new environment where they are not met by the same natural enemies that keep them in check in their native habitats. The management of invasive insect pests and weeds has traditionally involved the introduction of biological control agents to newly invaded areas as a nonchemical means of reducing pest populations. Insect pest and weed biological control is a growing field, and this Issue of the journal is looking for new research and reviews to help advance the field. Finding the place of pest origin, searching for natural enemies in the pest's native land, transporting them to a containment facility, evaluating them before they are released (for things such as effectiveness, host specificity, and climate adaptability), rearing them in large numbers in preparation for field releases, and finally releasing them and recording their effects. The biology, ecology, behaviour, and description of the new species of natural enemies will be discussed, as well as recent cases of importation biological control and the success and failure of natural enemy introductions.

Plant protection is essential to ensuring the safety and longevity of the world's food supply (in line with Sustainable Development Goal 2 in the 2030 Agenda). Synthetic pesticides have long been used by farmers to control pests, but these chemicals have negative effects on both the environment and human health. In order to achieve sustainable production patterns (SDG Target 12.4) and enhance food security, the current regulatory frameworks encourage the use of integrated pest management. In particular, "green agrochemicals" made from plant extracts should be given more attention. Plants produce a wide variety of primary and secondary metabolites, such as carbohydrates, cyanogenic glycosides, amino acids, lipids, phenols, flavonoids, anthocyanins, alkaloids, and terpenoids, that have bactericidal, fungicidal, virucidal, insecticidal, acaricidal, and nematicidal properties. These phytochemicals are essential raw materials for the development of formulations that can aid in the preservation and protection of crops. Despite the growing demand for ecologically sound alternatives to pest management in agriculture, the selection of products crafted from botanicals remains constrained. The imbalance that results from plant disease can drastically reduce food production by affecting the plant's innate immune system, hormone signalling pathways, transcriptional control, protein modifying, and so on. Real-time, visualized, quick, and sensitive technologies have recently been developed for the detection of plant pathogens. Plant‒pathogen interactions are complex but they can be studied using a variety of biological methods such as transcriptomics, proteomics, VIGS, CRISPR, HIGS, and gene knock out. The role of microbial communities in protecting plant ecosystems from pathogen invasion cannot be overstated. Fungi are the most common microbes that cause plant disease, and they come in an enormous variety. However, the field has received relatively little attention, so novel taxa or cryptic species may yet be discovered. The investigation of fungal diversity in terms of biodiversity, systematic phylogeny, and molecular evolution is a current center of scientific interest. The most up-to-date findings from the aforementioned academic disciplines will be considered in this Special Issue. Discovering the phytoconstituents responsible for plant extracts' bioactivity is crucial for developing biocontrol products with commercial potential. The goal of this Special Issue is to facilitate the evaluation of highly promising biorational candidates. Contributions to this Special Issue (including but not limited to original research papers, reviews, and communications) will primarily address the following themes:

• Pests can be controlled in the lab and in the field by isolating, characterizing, and evaluating natural plant chemicals that have a biological effect on the pests.
• Using synergistic effects to boost the antimicrobial, insecticidal, acaricidal, and nematicidal properties of plant extracts by combining them with other natural substances.
• Development of novel formulations that incorporate plant botanicals as active components and impart stability, adhesion, and controlled release to the bioactive compounds.
• Research into the molecular and cellular mechanisms by which natural products exert their effects.

Prof. Dr. Humayun Javed
Prof. Dr. Dewen Qiu
Guest Editors

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• biological control
• host‒plant interaction
• plant‒microbe interaction
• plant extracts
• sustainable agriculture
• integrated pest management
• crop protection
• natural antibacterial products
• natural fungicide products