THE SOIL AS A RESERVOIR FOR ANTAGONISTS TO PLANT DISEASES

Abstract

The soil is often considered the milieu providing support for plant roots, water and nutrients for plant growth. But it is also considered a hostile environment harbouring plant pathogenic nematodes, bacteria and fungi. The most common attitude is to try to eliminate the plant pathogenic organisms by biocidal treatments such as methyl bromide fumigation, which are dangerous for man and the environment. Beside this pathogen eradication strategy, another approach to control soil-borne plant diseases consists in studying the plant-pathogen interactions at the cellular and molecular level to create new resistant cultivars or to develop new plant protection products based on elicitation of plant defence reactions. This field of research only focuses on plant pathogen interactions, not taking into account the environment in which they take place.