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Review
. 2024 Oct 1;13(19):2762.
doi: 10.3390/plants13192762.

Agricultural Pest Management: The Role of Microorganisms in Biopesticides and Soil Bioremediation

Alane Beatriz Vermelho  1   2 , Jean Vinícius Moreira  1 , Ingrid Teixeira Akamine  1 , Veronica S Cardoso  1 , Felipe R P Mansoldo  1
Affiliations
Review

Agricultural Pest Management: The Role of Microorganisms in Biopesticides and Soil Bioremediation

Alane Beatriz Vermelho et al. Plants (Basel). .

Abstract

Pesticide use in crops is a severe problem in some countries. Each country has its legislation for use, but they differ in the degree of tolerance for these broadly toxic products. Several synthetic pesticides can cause air, soil, and water pollution, contaminating the human food chain and other living beings. In addition, some of them can accumulate in the environment for an indeterminate amount of time. The agriculture sector must guarantee healthy food with sustainable production using environmentally friendly methods. In this context, biological biopesticides from microbes and plants are a growing green solution for this segment. Several pests attack crops worldwide, including weeds, insects, nematodes, and microorganisms such as fungi, bacteria, and viruses, causing diseases and economic losses. The use of bioproducts from microorganisms, such as microbial biopesticides (MBPs) or microorganisms alone, is a practice and is growing due to the intense research in the world. Mainly, bacteria, fungi, and baculoviruses have been used as sources of biomolecules and secondary metabolites for biopesticide use. Different methods, such as direct soil application, spraying techniques with microorganisms, endotherapy, and seed treatment, are used. Adjuvants like surfactants, protective agents, and carriers improve the system in different formulations. In addition, microorganisms are a tool for the bioremediation of pesticides in the environment. This review summarizes these topics, focusing on the biopesticides of microbial origin.

Keywords: biopesticide application; biopesticides; bioremediation; environment; microbial origin; pest crops.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Pesticide classification.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Data obtained from Ref. [126], re-processed in an R environment using the taxizedb [127] and ComplexHeatmap [128] packages. (A) Heatmap of occurrences between the genres of antagonists (row) and targets (column); (B) pie chart of the sum of the antagonist microorganism phyla.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Scheme of the toxicity potential of Bt δ-endotoxins against different organisms.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Pesticide cycle in the environment.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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