Bacteriophages as Emerging Biotechnological Tool for Plant Disease Control: Current Status, Challenges, and Future Perspectives
Bacterial plant diseases remain a major problem for sustainable crop production worldwide, and innovative methods are needed to solve the plant disease problem that goes beyond the traditional method of using chemicals. The traditional management approach, based largely on antibiotic use and bactericide use or copper, is facing challenges due to AMR crisis and safety issues for the environment. The review highlights the advances in use of bacteriophages as precise, environmentally friendly and environmentally stable biocontrol agents of phytopathogenic bacteria. It explains the mechanism of action of phages such as killing bacteria through lytic action, via the use of phage-derived enzymes and by disrupting protective bacterial biofilms by enzyme action. Recent case studies and commercial product evaluations shed light on the effectiveness of phage therapy in opposing significant agricultural pathogens, such as Xanthomonas species, Pseudomonas species, and Erwinia amylovora. Host-range properties, environmental constraints and complex regulatory hurdles are discussed. These constraints have been overcome by recent developments in computational biology, omics-driven discovery and innovative formulation strategies such as phage cocktails and microencapsulation. In the future, synthetic biology and nanotechnology will improve the performance and stability of phage. Together, these advances are pointing to a bright future in the application of phage-based biocontrol in sustainable and resilient plant health management practices.