Article (Scientific journals)
Biological control mitigates spread of vector-borne plant pathogens
Wyckhuys, Kris A.G.; Zou, Yi; Crowder, David W. et al.
2025In Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 388, p. 109683
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Keywords :
Agroecology; Biological control agent-vector-virus interactions; Disease ecology; Interdisciplinarity; Vector-borne pathogens; Ecology; Animal Science and Zoology; Agronomy and Crop Science
Abstract :
[en] Diseases caused by vector-borne plant pathogens cause adverse impacts on yield resilience, food security, and farmer livelihoods, which are bound to aggravate under global change. Biological control is routinely discounted as a mitigation strategy for plant diseases, partially due to scarce and inconclusive empirical support. Here, using curated field survey data for 58 persistently or semi-persistently transmitted pathogens, we employ a multi-method approach to assess the role of resident (i.e., naturally occurring) biological control agents in these pathosystems. Our meta-analyses show how in planta pathogen incidence is strongly affected by vector abundance and infectivity. Meanwhile, biological control agent density negatively affects vector abundance and slows vector population build-up. Together, these relationships suggest that biological control lessens pathogen incidence by reducing vector abundance, though a paucity of data impedes direct, empirical demonstration of this effect. In particular, bipartite (mainly vector × pathogen) interactions have only been uncovered under field conditions for less than half of focal pathosystems. More so, just 5 % of studies simultaneously reported pathogen, vector, and biological control agent densities. Our study contests the long-standing dogma that arthropod-vectored pathogens cannot be mitigated through biological control, and accentuates how observational or manipulative field studies are imperative to grasp its full potential.
Disciplines :
Agriculture & agronomy
Author, co-author :
Wyckhuys, Kris A.G. ;  Chrysalis Consulting, Danang, Viet Nam ; State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China ; School of the Environment, University of Queensland, Saint Lucia, Australia ; Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Rome, Italy
Zou, Yi;  Department of Health and Environmental Sciences, School of Science, Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, Suzhou, China
Crowder, David W.;  Department of Entomology, Washington State University, Pullman, United States
Adriani, Evie;  University of Gorontalo, Indonesia
Albaytar, Annabelle B.;  Institute of Weed Science, Entomology and Plant Pathology, University of the Philippines Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines
Beltran, Marie Joy B. ;  National Crop Protection Center, University of the Philippines Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines
Ben Fekih, Ibtissem  ;  Université de Liège - ULiège > Département GxABT > Gestion durable des bio-agresseurs
Camargo-Gil, Carolina;  Centro de Investigación de la Caña de Azúcar, CENICAÑA, Cali, Colombia
Sta. Cruz, Filomena C.;  Institute of Weed Science, Entomology and Plant Pathology, University of the Philippines Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines
Cicero, Lizette;  Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Forestales, Agrícolas y Pecuarias (INIFAP), Mexico
Colmenarez, Yelitza C. ;  CAB International Latin America, FEPAF-UNESP-FCA, Botucatu, Brazil
Cuellar-Palacios, Claudia M.;  Department of Biology, Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia
Dubois, Thomas ;  International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe), Nairobi, Kenya
Eigenbrode, Sanford D.;  Department of Entomology, University of Idaho, Moscow, United States
Francis, Frédéric  ;  Université de Liège - ULiège > Département GxABT > Gestion durable des bio-agresseurs
Fereres, Alberto;  Instituto de Ciencias Agrarias, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, ICA-CSIC, Madrid, Spain
Haddi, Khalid ;  Laboratory of Molecular Entomology and Ecotoxicology, Department of Entomology, Universidade Federal de Lavras, Brazil
Khamis, Fathiya M.;  International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe), Nairobi, Kenya
Le Lann, Cécile;  University of Rennes, CNRS, ECOBIO (Ecosystèmes, Biodiversité, Evolution)-UMR, Rennes, France
Le Ralec, Anne;  UMR IGEPP, INRAe Agrocampus Ouest – University of Rennes 1, Le Rheu, France
Lopez, Lorena;  Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, United States
Lyu, Baoqian;  China Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences (CATAS), Haikou, China
Montoya-Lerma, James;  Department of Biology, Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia
Muñoz-Cardenas, Karen;  Evolutionary & Population Biology (IBED-EPB), University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Nurkomar, Ihsan ;  Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Palmeros-Suarez, Paola A.;  Phytopathology Laboratory, CUCBA, University of Guadalajara, Zapopan, Mexico
Perier, Jermaine D.;  Department of Entomology, University of Georgia, Tifton, United States
Ramírez-Romero, Ricardo;  Biological Control Laboratory (LabCB-AIFEN), CUCBA, University of Guadalajara, Guadalajara, Mexico
Roudine, Sacha;  University of Rennes, CNRS, ECOBIO (Ecosystèmes, Biodiversité, Evolution)-UMR, Rennes, France
Sanches, Marcio M.;  EMBRAPA Beef Cattle, Campo Grande, Brazil
Sanchez-Garcia, Francisco J.;  Instituto Murciano de Investigación y Desarrollo Agrario y Alimentario (IMIDA), Murcia, Spain
Signabon, Freddiewebb B.;  National Crop Protection Center, University of the Philippines Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines
van Baaren, Joan;  University of Rennes, CNRS, ECOBIO (Ecosystèmes, Biodiversité, Evolution)-UMR, Rennes, France
Vásquez, Carlos;  Faculty of Agronomical Sciences, Technical University of Ambato, Campus Querochaca, Cevallos, Ecuador
Xu, Pengjun;  State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China
Lu, Yanhui;  State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China
Elkahky, Maged ;  Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Rome, Italy
More authors (27 more) Less
Language :
English
Title :
Biological control mitigates spread of vector-borne plant pathogens
Publication date :
15 August 2025
Journal title :
Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment
ISSN :
0167-8809
eISSN :
1873-2305
Publisher :
Elsevier B.V.
Volume :
388
Pages :
109683
Peer reviewed :
Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi
Funders :
EC - European Commission
Funding text :
This work was funded by the European Commission through project GCP/GLO/220/EC and executed by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.
Available on ORBi :
since 06 January 2026

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