Biological control mitigates spread of vector-borne plant pathogens

Kris A.G. Wyckhuys; Yi Zou; David W. Crowder; Evie Adriani; Annabelle B. Albaytar; Marie Joy B. Beltran; Ibtissem Ben Fekih; Carolina Camargo-Gil; Filomena C. Filomena; Lizette Cicero; Yelitza C. Colmenarez; Claudia M. Cuellar-Palacios; Thomas Dubois; Sanford D. Eigenbrode; Frederic Francis; Alberto Fereres; Khalid Haddi; Fathiya M. Khamis; Cécile Le Lann; Anne Le Ralec; Lorena Lopez; Baoqian Lyu; James Montoya-Lerma; Karen Muñoz-Cardenas; Ihsan Nurkomar; Paola A. Palmeros-Suarez; Jermaine D. Perier; Ricardo Ramírez-Romero; Sacha Roudine; Marcio M. Sanches; Francisco J. Sanchez-Garcia; Freddiewebb B. Signabon; Joan van Baaren; Carlos Vásquez; Pengjun Xu; Yanhui Lu; Maged Elkahky

doi:10.1016/j.agee.2025.109683

Biological control mitigates spread of vector-borne plant pathogens

Kris A.G. Wyckhuys^*
, Yi Zou
, David W. Crowder
, Evie Adriani
, Annabelle B. Albaytar
, Marie Joy B. Beltran
, Ibtissem Ben Fekih
, Carolina Camargo-Gil
, Filomena C. Filomena
, Lizette Cicero
, Yelitza C. Colmenarez
, Claudia M. Cuellar-Palacios
, Thomas Dubois
, Sanford D. Eigenbrode
, Frederic Francis
, Alberto Fereres
, Khalid Haddi
, Fathiya M. Khamis
, Cécile Le Lann
, Anne Le Ralec

Lorena Lopez, Baoqian Lyu, James Montoya-Lerma, Karen Muñoz-Cardenas, Ihsan Nurkomar, Paola A. Palmeros-Suarez, Jermaine D. Perier, Ricardo Ramírez-Romero, Sacha Roudine, Marcio M. Sanches, Francisco J. Sanchez-Garcia, Freddiewebb B. Signabon, Joan van Baaren, Carlos Vásquez, Pengjun Xu, Yanhui Lu, Maged Elkahky

^*Corresponding author for this work

Chrysalis Consulting
Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
University of Queensland
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Washington State University Pullman
University of Gorontalo
University of the Philippines
University of Liege
Centro de Investigación de la Caña de Azúcar de Colombia (Cenicaña)
Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Forestales, Agricolas y Pecuarias
Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho
Universidad del Valle
International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology Nairobi
University of Idaho
CSIC - Institute of Agricultural Sciences
Universidade Federal de Lavras
Université Rennes 1/CNRS
Agrocampus–Ouest
North Carolina State University
Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences
University of Amsterdam
Muhammadiyah University of Yogyakarta
Universidad de Guadalajara
University of Georgia Tifton Campus
Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária
Instituto Murciano de Investigacion y Desarrollo Agrario y Alimentario
Universidad Técnica de Ambato

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

5 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Diseases caused by vector-borne plant pathogens cause adverse impacts on yield resilience, food security, and farmer livelihoods, which are bound to aggravate under global change. Biological control is routinely discounted as a mitigation strategy for plant diseases, partially due to scarce and inconclusive empirical support. Here, using curated field survey data for 58 persistently or semi-persistently transmitted pathogens, we employ a multi-method approach to assess the role of resident (i.e., naturally occurring) biological control agents in these pathosystems. Our meta-analyses show how in planta pathogen incidence is strongly affected by vector abundance and infectivity. Meanwhile, biological control agent density negatively affects vector abundance and slows vector population build-up. Together, these relationships suggest that biological control lessens pathogen incidence by reducing vector abundance, though a paucity of data impedes direct, empirical demonstration of this effect. In particular, bipartite (mainly vector × pathogen) interactions have only been uncovered under field conditions for less than half of focal pathosystems. More so, just 5 % of studies simultaneously reported pathogen, vector, and biological control agent densities. Our study contests the long-standing dogma that arthropod-vectored pathogens cannot be mitigated through biological control, and accentuates how observational or manipulative field studies are imperative to grasp its full potential.

Original language	English
Article number	109683
Journal	Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment
Volume	388
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2025.109683
Publication status	Published - 6 May 2025

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 2 Zero Hunger

Keywords

Agroecology
Biological control agent-vector-virus interactions
Disease ecology
Interdisciplinarity
Vector-borne pathogens

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10.1016/j.agee.2025.109683

Cite this

Wyckhuys, K. A. G., Zou, Y., Crowder, D. W., Adriani, E., Albaytar, A. B., Beltran, M. J. B., Ben Fekih, I., Camargo-Gil, C., Filomena, F. C., Cicero, L., Colmenarez, Y. C., Cuellar-Palacios, C. M., Dubois, T., Eigenbrode, S. D., Francis, F., Fereres, A., Haddi, K., Khamis, F. M., Le Lann, C., ... Elkahky, M. (2025). Biological control mitigates spread of vector-borne plant pathogens. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 388, Article 109683. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2025.109683

@article{ac58a16c16b342dab06e5703a5b4b28a,

title = "Biological control mitigates spread of vector-borne plant pathogens",

abstract = "Diseases caused by vector-borne plant pathogens cause adverse impacts on yield resilience, food security, and farmer livelihoods, which are bound to aggravate under global change. Biological control is routinely discounted as a mitigation strategy for plant diseases, partially due to scarce and inconclusive empirical support. Here, using curated field survey data for 58 persistently or semi-persistently transmitted pathogens, we employ a multi-method approach to assess the role of resident (i.e., naturally occurring) biological control agents in these pathosystems. Our meta-analyses show how in planta pathogen incidence is strongly affected by vector abundance and infectivity. Meanwhile, biological control agent density negatively affects vector abundance and slows vector population build-up. Together, these relationships suggest that biological control lessens pathogen incidence by reducing vector abundance, though a paucity of data impedes direct, empirical demonstration of this effect. In particular, bipartite (mainly vector × pathogen) interactions have only been uncovered under field conditions for less than half of focal pathosystems. More so, just 5 \% of studies simultaneously reported pathogen, vector, and biological control agent densities. Our study contests the long-standing dogma that arthropod-vectored pathogens cannot be mitigated through biological control, and accentuates how observational or manipulative field studies are imperative to grasp its full potential.",

keywords = "Agroecology, Biological control agent-vector-virus interactions, Disease ecology, Interdisciplinarity, Vector-borne pathogens",

author = "Wyckhuys, \{Kris A.G.\} and Yi Zou and Crowder, \{David W.\} and Evie Adriani and Albaytar, \{Annabelle B.\} and Beltran, \{Marie Joy B.\} and \{Ben Fekih\}, Ibtissem and Carolina Camargo-Gil and Filomena, \{Filomena C.\} and Lizette Cicero and Colmenarez, \{Yelitza C.\} and Cuellar-Palacios, \{Claudia M.\} and Thomas Dubois and Eigenbrode, \{Sanford D.\} and Frederic Francis and Alberto Fereres and Khalid Haddi and Khamis, \{Fathiya M.\} and \{Le Lann\}, C{\'e}cile and \{Le Ralec\}, Anne and Lorena Lopez and Baoqian Lyu and James Montoya-Lerma and Karen Mu{\~n}oz-Cardenas and Ihsan Nurkomar and Palmeros-Suarez, \{Paola A.\} and Perier, \{Jermaine D.\} and Ricardo Ram{\'i}rez-Romero and Sacha Roudine and Sanches, \{Marcio M.\} and Sanchez-Garcia, \{Francisco J.\} and Signabon, \{Freddiewebb B.\} and \{van Baaren\}, Joan and Carlos V{\'a}squez and Pengjun Xu and Yanhui Lu and Maged Elkahky",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2025 The Authors",

year = "2025",

month = may,

day = "6",

doi = "10.1016/j.agee.2025.109683",

language = "English",

volume = "388",

journal = "Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment",

issn = "0167-8809",

}

Wyckhuys, KAG, Zou, Y, Crowder, DW, Adriani, E, Albaytar, AB, Beltran, MJB, Ben Fekih, I, Camargo-Gil, C, Filomena, FC, Cicero, L, Colmenarez, YC, Cuellar-Palacios, CM, Dubois, T, Eigenbrode, SD, Francis, F, Fereres, A, Haddi, K, Khamis, FM, Le Lann, C, Le Ralec, A, Lopez, L, Lyu, B, Montoya-Lerma, J, Muñoz-Cardenas, K, Nurkomar, I, Palmeros-Suarez, PA, Perier, JD, Ramírez-Romero, R, Roudine, S, Sanches, MM, Sanchez-Garcia, FJ, Signabon, FB, van Baaren, J, Vásquez, C, Xu, P, Lu, Y & Elkahky, M 2025, 'Biological control mitigates spread of vector-borne plant pathogens', Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, vol. 388, 109683. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2025.109683

TY - JOUR

T1 - Biological control mitigates spread of vector-borne plant pathogens

AU - Wyckhuys, Kris A.G.

AU - Zou, Yi

AU - Crowder, David W.

AU - Adriani, Evie

AU - Albaytar, Annabelle B.

AU - Beltran, Marie Joy B.

AU - Ben Fekih, Ibtissem

AU - Camargo-Gil, Carolina

AU - Filomena, Filomena C.

AU - Cicero, Lizette

AU - Colmenarez, Yelitza C.

AU - Cuellar-Palacios, Claudia M.

AU - Dubois, Thomas

AU - Eigenbrode, Sanford D.

AU - Francis, Frederic

AU - Fereres, Alberto

AU - Haddi, Khalid

AU - Khamis, Fathiya M.

AU - Le Lann, Cécile

AU - Le Ralec, Anne

AU - Lopez, Lorena

AU - Lyu, Baoqian

AU - Montoya-Lerma, James

AU - Muñoz-Cardenas, Karen

AU - Nurkomar, Ihsan

AU - Palmeros-Suarez, Paola A.

AU - Perier, Jermaine D.

AU - Ramírez-Romero, Ricardo

AU - Roudine, Sacha

AU - Sanches, Marcio M.

AU - Sanchez-Garcia, Francisco J.

AU - Signabon, Freddiewebb B.

AU - van Baaren, Joan

AU - Vásquez, Carlos

AU - Xu, Pengjun

AU - Lu, Yanhui

AU - Elkahky, Maged

PY - 2025/5/6

Y1 - 2025/5/6

N2 - Diseases caused by vector-borne plant pathogens cause adverse impacts on yield resilience, food security, and farmer livelihoods, which are bound to aggravate under global change. Biological control is routinely discounted as a mitigation strategy for plant diseases, partially due to scarce and inconclusive empirical support. Here, using curated field survey data for 58 persistently or semi-persistently transmitted pathogens, we employ a multi-method approach to assess the role of resident (i.e., naturally occurring) biological control agents in these pathosystems. Our meta-analyses show how in planta pathogen incidence is strongly affected by vector abundance and infectivity. Meanwhile, biological control agent density negatively affects vector abundance and slows vector population build-up. Together, these relationships suggest that biological control lessens pathogen incidence by reducing vector abundance, though a paucity of data impedes direct, empirical demonstration of this effect. In particular, bipartite (mainly vector × pathogen) interactions have only been uncovered under field conditions for less than half of focal pathosystems. More so, just 5 % of studies simultaneously reported pathogen, vector, and biological control agent densities. Our study contests the long-standing dogma that arthropod-vectored pathogens cannot be mitigated through biological control, and accentuates how observational or manipulative field studies are imperative to grasp its full potential.

AB - Diseases caused by vector-borne plant pathogens cause adverse impacts on yield resilience, food security, and farmer livelihoods, which are bound to aggravate under global change. Biological control is routinely discounted as a mitigation strategy for plant diseases, partially due to scarce and inconclusive empirical support. Here, using curated field survey data for 58 persistently or semi-persistently transmitted pathogens, we employ a multi-method approach to assess the role of resident (i.e., naturally occurring) biological control agents in these pathosystems. Our meta-analyses show how in planta pathogen incidence is strongly affected by vector abundance and infectivity. Meanwhile, biological control agent density negatively affects vector abundance and slows vector population build-up. Together, these relationships suggest that biological control lessens pathogen incidence by reducing vector abundance, though a paucity of data impedes direct, empirical demonstration of this effect. In particular, bipartite (mainly vector × pathogen) interactions have only been uncovered under field conditions for less than half of focal pathosystems. More so, just 5 % of studies simultaneously reported pathogen, vector, and biological control agent densities. Our study contests the long-standing dogma that arthropod-vectored pathogens cannot be mitigated through biological control, and accentuates how observational or manipulative field studies are imperative to grasp its full potential.

KW - Agroecology

KW - Biological control agent-vector-virus interactions

KW - Disease ecology

KW - Interdisciplinarity

KW - Vector-borne pathogens

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105001821826

U2 - 10.1016/j.agee.2025.109683

DO - 10.1016/j.agee.2025.109683

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:105001821826

SN - 0167-8809

VL - 388

JO - Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment

JF - Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment

M1 - 109683

ER -

Biological control mitigates spread of vector-borne plant pathogens

Abstract

UN SDGs

Keywords

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