Can anyone provide me with a review on the origin and history of microbial control of plant diseases please. Most of the reviews are about the history of biocontrol of insects.
An answer for starters is take a look at a classic book Biological Control of Plant Pathogens by Ralph Baker and R. J. Cook. When I was a graduate student it was the go to resource. In addition I would suggest a google search of the last 5 years to bring out some of the new articles focusing on reviews.
According to our tradition, nothing can be told in addition to adept professor such Mr. Hepperly. As I am agreed completely with his writings, asking for his forgiveness, I’d like to make few additions. You are right that most of studies, articles and reviews in the field are on biological control of insects. However, in recent years studies on biocontrol of plant disease are getting increase. Non pathogenic Pseudomonas, Trichoderma spp., Bacillus spp., arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi are utilized in practice to control of root and crown rot diseases, Verticillium wilt, early blight (Alternaria solani), damping off, Rhizoctonia solani, Fusarium wilt, mildew, Aschochyta disease, Synchytrium endobioticum of wheat, cotton, tomato, cucumber, pea, melon and potato, biologically. One of the newest review article on the field is published online in Front Microbiology in 2017 ( 8: 2192) (doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2017.02192).
Its name is “Antagonistic Microbial Interactions: Contributions and Potential Applications for Controlling Pathogens in the Aquatic Systems” by Judith Feichtmayer, Li Deng and Christian Griebler.