ABSTRACT
Biological control is the use of benecial living organisms called biocontrol agents (BCAs) to reduce the numbers or effects of undesirable pests. BCAs include natural or genetically modied pathogens, parasites, or predators that are deliberately introduced in the environment or, if already present, are encouraged to multiply with the purpose of reducing the survival and/or activity of pest organisms. This chapter focuses on microorganisms that are dened in legal and commercial terms as “microbial biopesticides” and are commercially produced for the purpose of controlling plant diseases, pests, and weeds or for the manipulation of plant physiology and productivity (Glare et al., 2012; https://www.epa.gov). Microbial biopesticides may consist of live or killed bacteria, fungi, yeasts, protozoa, viruses, and/or the metabolites they produce. In addition to these, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) also denes biopesticides as “naturally occurring substances that control pests (biochemical pesticides)” and “pesticidal substances produced by plants containing added genetic material (plant-incorporated protectants),” which are beyond the scope of this chapter and are not discussed here.
