ABSTRACT
Historically, research in biocontrol has yielded discoveries of both fundamental biology and solutions for practical problems in agriculture. Advances on both fronts will be furthered by a better understanding of the complex ecology that surrounds the disease-retardant interactions of microorganisms and plants. The emerging tools of modern biology afford increasingly sophisticated approaches to dissect the multichannel dialogue among the plants, pathogens, biological control agents, and microbial communities that provide the biological context for disease and its suppression. As these research avenues are pursued, new principles of organismal interactions and community function and new strategies for deployment of biocontrol agents will emerge.
