Aug 2026· Journal of Zoological and Botanical Gardens· 0 citations· 126 references
TL;DR
Overall, microbial biostimulants offer a promising tool for enhancing IPM in biodiversity-rich botanical gardens, although further long-term validation is needed to fully assess their sustainability and effectiveness.
Abstract
Botanical gardens are highly heterogeneous plant systems characterized by high taxonomic diversity, with numerous plant taxa represented within confined areas, and complex ecological interactions that create unique challenges for pest management. Conventional IPM strategies, designed for simplified agroecosystems, often fail to address complex pest pressures in curated environments. Microbial biostimulants have emerged as promising components of sustainable IPM strategies by enhancing plant defense responses, improving stress resilience, and reducing reliance on chemical inputs. This review synthesizes current knowledge on microbial biostimulants, including plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and endophytic microorganisms, in modulating plant defense against insect herbivores. These beneficial microbes enhance plant resistance through multiple mechanisms. They activate induced systemic resistance and modulate key phytohormones, including jasmonic acid, salicylic acid, and ethylene. Additionally, they regulate calcium-dependent and reactive oxygen species-mediated defenses. Microbially induced changes in plant secondary metabolites and volatile organic compounds further influence herbivore behavior and trophic interactions. Emphasis is placed on integrating microbial biostimulants into IPM frameworks tailored to botanical gardens. This highlights compatibility with biological control agents and reduced reliance on synthetic pesticides. Despite promising advances, challenges remain, including context-dependent efficacy, host specificity and limited long-term validation. Overall, microbial biostimulants offer a promising tool for enhancing IPM in biodiversity-rich botanical gardens, although further long-term validation is needed to fully assess their sustainability and effectiveness.
Silicon-rich biochar (Sichar) is increasingly evaluated as a functional option in sustainable agriculture by aligning carbon storage pathways with ecological insect pest management frameworks. This review synthesizes the investigated mechanisms through which Sichar modifies plant defenses against insect herbivores across diverse ecosystems. When derived from high-silicon biomass, Sichar applications can increase the concentration of available silicic acid in the soil solution, which frequently correlates with the deposition of structural opaline silica barriers within plant vegetative tissues to physically impede specific chewing and piercing-sucking insect pests. Beyond acting as a mechanical barrier, soil-applied Sichar has been shown to alter systemic defenses by modulating endogenous phytohormone-signaling pathways, particularly those mediated by jasmonic acid and salicylic acid, potentially upregulating the biosynthesis of specific defense-related secondary metabolites. These biochemical shifts influence host-plant resistance traits and may simultaneously affect the recruitment of natural enemies via modified emissions of volatile organic compounds that mediate tritrophic interactions. Furthermore, Sichar amendments modify soil physicochemical properties and nutrient cycling, creating a rhizosphere environment that can support beneficial soil microbial communities and maintain baseline plant vigor metrics. Although Sichar assists in managing specific synthetic pesticide residues through surface adsorption or microbial-mediated degradation pathways, its variable influence on non-target beneficial organisms and localized soil moisture dynamics requires systematic evaluation. Optimizing pyrolysis parameters and field application strategies allows Sichar to function as an integrated component of integrated pest management frameworks that align with the principles of a circular economy. This synthesis establishes an evidence-based framework for future empirical research aimed at quantifying and validating the protective parameters of Sichar in diversified cropping systems. Silicon-rich biochar (Sichar) soil deposition modifies structural opaline barriers and alters endogenous phytohormone-signaling pathways, which can suppress the feeding performance and population growth parameters of specific chewing and piercing-sucking insect feeding guilds. Rhizosphere amendments utilizing Sichar influence insect herbivore development, which is frequently associated with delayed nymphal and larval maturation, reduced fecundity, and a reduction in observed crop tissue damage. Sichar serves as an ecologically integrated soil conditioner within targeted integrated pest management frameworks, offering a potential cultural mechanism to decrease reliance on synthetic chemical insecticides.
R. Joshi, S. Shrivastava· Discover Agriculture· 0 citations
Sustainable agriculture requires strategies that enhance crop productivity while reducing dependence on chemical inputs which are efficient, profitable, eco-friendly and conserve or enhance renewable resources. Microorganisms play a vital role in maintaining soil texture, health and fertility. Plant-associated methylotrophic bacteria, particularly Methylobacterium spp. (pink-pigmented facultative methylotrophs, PPFMs), have gained attention as effective biofertilizers and biocontrol agents. These bacteria are widely distributed in the phyllosphere and rhizosphere of plants, where they utilize plant-derived methanol for growth and establish beneficial associations with host plants. Methylobacterium promotes plant development through multiple mechanisms, including phytohormone production, nitrogen fixation, phosphate solubilization, siderophore synthesis, and improved nutrient uptake. They also enhance plant defense by inducing systemic resistance, producing antimicrobial compounds, and competing with pathogens for nutrients and colonization sites. Additionally, their ability to tolerate environmental stress and degrade toxic compounds supports plant resilience under adverse conditions. Overall, Methylobacterium spp. offers a sustainable alternative approach for improving crop productivity, maintaining soil health, and reducing reliance on agrochemicals.
K. R. Sharmi, R. Poorniammal, S. Prabhu et al.· Journal of Pure and Applied...· 0 citations
This review synthesizes current knowledge on the structural classes of plant-derived compounds and critically evaluates their applications as biocontrol agents against bacterial phytopathogens, highlighting their potential integration into sustainable resilience and global food security.
Adyasha Anapurba Sahoo, Sangeeta Raut, Aswinee Kumar Panda et al.· Journal of Crop Health· 0 citations
This review critically synthesizes current understanding of rhizosphere communication and root exudate-mediated signalling mechanisms that promote beneficial plant microbe interactions, while examining the biological and technological challenges that affect their application in the field.
P. Chakraborty, B. Bose, Deepika Sharma et al.· Folia Microbiologica (Prague...· 0 citations
Plant–microbe interaction is an essential component of sustainable agriculture which promotes plant growth, improves nutrient assimilation, and enhances plant resistance to various environmental stress conditions. Beneficial microbes, such as rhizobacteria, mycorrhizal fungi, and endophytes, boost plant functions using molecular signaling, phytohormone modification, systemic resistance induction, and pathogen antagonism. The use of new multi-omics techniques has uncovered complicated communication systems mediated by root exudates, recognition via receptors and microbial community functioning. In this review, the current understanding of the molecular basis of plant–microbe associations and their roles in combating drought, salinity, temperature, and heavy metals stresses is summarized. Special attention is paid to the promising approach based on microbiome engineering, synthetic communities and next generation biofertilizers for climate-smart agriculture. The main difficulties associated with environmental fluctuations, host specificity, inconsistency at field scale, and the lack of omics and bioinoculant validation guidelines are also highlighted.
Bishal Sarkar, Saumendu Deb Roy· Discover Plants· 0 citations
Microbial innovations are increasingly recognized as important components of sustainable agriculture because of their potential to improve nutrient availability, soil health, crop protection and plant resilience while reducing dependence on resource-intensive agricultural inputs. This review synthesizes recent advances in agricultural microbiomes and beneficial microorganisms, with particular emphasis on plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria, endophytes, mycorrhizal fungi, actinomycetes and microbial consortia. Their roles in biological nitrogen fixation, nutrient solubilization, nutrient cycling, pathogen suppression, modulation of plant defense and enhancement of tolerance to drought, salinity and other environmental stresses are examined. The review further evaluates emerging approaches, including microbiome engineering, synthetic microbial communities, synthetic biology, multi-omics and artificial intelligence, that are enabling more targeted and function-oriented microbial interventions. Despite substantial advances, translation from laboratory and controlled-environment studies to consistent field performance remains constrained by environmental variability, poor microbial establishment and persistence, formulation and shelf-life limitations, scale-up challenges, biosafety concerns and regulatory uncertainty. An integrated crop-soil-microbiome approach, supported by ecologically adapted strains or consortia, improved delivery systems, multi-location validation, standardized quality control and data-driven microbial selection, is therefore essential for reliable field application. Future microbial technologies should be evaluated not only for biological efficacy but also for agronomic performance, economic feasibility, environmental safety and compatibility with existing crop-management practices. Such integration can strengthen the contribution of microbial biotechnology to resource-efficient, climate-resilient and environmentally sustainable agricultural production.
M. Kanimozhi, Vijay Kumar, Laxmi Rawat et al.· Genetics and Molecular Resea...· 0 citations
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