2026· RASSA Journal of Science for Society· Vol 8, pp. 22-32· 0 citations· 21 references
Abstract
This review highlights the potential of fungal bioherbicides (mycoherbicide) as sustainable agents for biological weed management in organic and conventional agriculture. Fungi and their bioactive metabolites offer target-specific, environmentally compatible alternatives to synthetic herbicides, particularly in the context of escalating herbicide resistance and regulatory restrictions. This review examines key advances across five domains: taxonomic diversity and mechanisms of fungal bioherbicide agents, formulation science and delivery systems, bioprocess engineering for scaleup production, field application strategies, and circular economy integration. Current bottlenecks in formulation stability, fermentation scalability, and regulatory pathways are critically assessed, and emerging technologies including nanoformulations, synthetic biology, artificial intelligence, and precision agriculture are evaluated as accelerators for next-generation mycoherbicide development. The growing global biopesticide market and sustainability imperatives further underscore the strategic importance of fungal bioherbicides within circular bioeconomy frameworks.
The dual application of microalgae for carbon sequestration and wastewater treatment is emphasized, along with their ability to enrich soil, which aligns with the objectives of closed-loop systems and circular agriculture.
Adeline Juanita, S. Mohanty, Kaustubha Mohanty· Blue Biotechnology· 0 citations
The increasing global human population and the intensification of agriculture present unprecedented challenges for pest control. The escalating resistance of pests to conventional synthetic insecticides, coupled with ecological and health concerns, underscores the urgent need for innovative and sustainable management approaches. Insecticidal peptides, due to their structural diversity, molecular specificity, and biodegradability, are emerging as promising candidates for the development of next-generation bioinsecticides. This strategic roadmap synthesizes recent advances in peptide architectures, ranging from pore-forming scaffolds to designs targeting enzyme inhibition and mimicking neuroendocrine actions, with a focus on the molecular mechanisms underpinning their selectivity and efficacy. By integrating structure-function insights with translational frameworks, we identify critical knowledge gaps and propose a pathway toward biotechnological tools, including bioinspired synthesis, artificial intelligence (AI)-guided peptide engineering, and nanodelivery systems for controlled release. Our analysis positions peptide-based insecticides at the forefront of sustainable agriculture, with the potential to minimize off-target effects, reduce environmental impact, and enhance crop resilience in the face of global change.
Benzimidazole fungicides (MBCs) are widely used for crop disease control, but their persistence and residues in soil, water, and agricultural products have raised increasing ecological and health concerns. This review summarizes the environmental fate, nontarget toxicity, and degradation strategies of representative MBCs, with particular emphasis on microbial detoxification. Reported degraders, including Rhodococcus spp. and Bacillus spp., as well as related functional communities, can efficiently transform typical MBCs under laboratory conditions. Microbial degradation generally proceeds through carbamate-bond hydrolysis, hydroxylation, ring cleavage, and further mineralization, mediated by enzymes such as amidohydrolases, hydroxylases, dioxygenases, esterases, and monooxygenases. Structural substituents strongly influence degradation routes and metabolite profiles. Remaining challenges include incomplete pathway elucidation, uncertain metabolite toxicity, and limited field stability of degraders. This review provides a mechanistic basis for developing sustainable bioremediation strategies for MBC residues.
Xiao-Qing Guo, Jing-Yi Sui, Yuanhang Yu et al.· Journal of Agricultural and...· 0 citations
Postharvest losses of horticultural produce, primarily due to microbial decay, remain a major challenge to global food security, accounting for 35–50% of production annually. To control this, overuse of synthetic fungicides has led to pathogen resistance, environmental contamination, and health concerns, prompting a shift toward sustainable biocontrol agents (BCAs). This review comprehensively examines the potential of microbial antagonists (yeasts, bacteria, and fungi), plant-based agents (essential oils and extracts), and natural compounds (e.g., chitosan, alginate, organic acids, etc.) for managing postharvest diseases in fruits and vegetables. Key mechanisms of action including competition for nutrients and space, production of antifungal metabolites and enzymes, biofilm formation, induction of host resistance, and volatile organic compounds are discussed in detail. Application strategies (pre- and postharvest), synergistic integrations with physical/chemical treatments, advantages over conventional pesticides, and major challenges (e.g., formulation stability, regulatory hurdles, and commercialization) are critically analyzed. Emerging approaches such as omics technologies, microbial consortia, genetic engineering, and nanotechnology offer promising avenues to enhance BCA efficacy and consistency. This review highlights successful examples and future perspectives of BCAs in postharvest diseases control setup and more importantly their co-applications together with other natural disease control methods and technologies. Finally, it underscores BCAs as viable, eco-friendly alternatives that can extend shelf life, preserve quality, and support sustainable postharvest management.
Esa Abiso Godana, Gerefa Sefu Edo, Sebahat Oztekin et al.· Frontiers in Nutrition· 0 citations
Microbial bioinoculants are increasingly positioned as key technological enablers of sustainable and climate-resilient agriculture, offering biological routes to enhance nutrient use efficiency, suppress pathogens, and improve crop tolerance to abiotic stress while reducing dependence on synthetic agrochemicals. Despite substantial advances in molecular microbiology, plant-microbe interaction research, and microbial biotechnology, the agronomic performance of commercial bioinoculants remains inconsistent across soils, climates, and cropping systems. This persistent variability reflects a structural disconnect between mechanistic understanding at the molecular scale and the largely empirical design of formulation and delivery technologies. In this review, we argue that next-generation bioinoculants should be reconceptualized as engineered biological systems in which microbial traits are rationally designed and explicitly integrated with advanced formulation architectures. We review recent progress in molecular engineering of plant-associated microbes, including synthetic gene circuits, stress tolerance engineering, metabolic rewiring, and signal-responsive regulatory pathways, and integrate these advances with developments in encapsulation, stimuli-responsive carriers, shelf-life stabilization, and smart delivery matrices. We propose a unifying framework in which formulations function as ecological and physiological interfaces that gate microbial survival, activation, and functional expression in complex agroecosystems. By bridging synthetic biology, materials science, and rhizosphere ecology, this integrated design paradigm provides a pathway toward predictable, high-performance biofertilizers and biopesticides suitable for scalable agricultural deployment.
Suvendu Das, P. Verma, Pil Joo Kim et al.· Microbiology Research· 0 citations
Medicinal plants remain one of the most important sources of therapeutically relevant compounds for pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, and biotechnological applications. However, the naturally low abundance of many specialized metabolites, considerable phytochemical variability, and increasing environmental pressures continue to limit the sustainable exploitation of plant-derived bioactive compounds. This review summarizes current strategies aimed at identifying, understanding, and enhancing the production of medicinally valuable metabolites while highlighting both biological limitations and emerging technological opportunities. Particular attention is given to the interplay between primary and secondary metabolism and its role in determining biosynthetic efficiency in both natural and engineered systems. Beyond discussing established methodologies, this review adopts a broader perspective by incorporating less frequently addressed aspects, including the influence of climate change on metabolite production, the application of bioinformatics-supported approaches to improve bioprospecting efficiency, and the growing role of nanoparticles as elicitors in plant biotechnology. These topics are considered alongside advances in tissue culture technologies, metabolic engineering, molecular approaches, and systems-level analyses aimed at improving metabolite yield and production stability. Current evidence suggests that no single technological framework is sufficient to address the complexity of medicinal plant metabolism. Hence, rather than presenting individual technologies as isolated solutions to specific biosynthetic bottlenecks, this review emphasizes that medicinal plant metabolism should be considered a highly interconnected system in which environmental, molecular, and physiological factors collectively determine production outcomes.
K. Hnatuszko-Konka, Aneta Gerszberg, M. Libik-Konieczny et al.· International Journal of Mol...· 0 citations
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