title: Bacteria in Agrobiology: Crop Ecosystems
author: Dinesh K. Maheshwari
description: The future of agriculture strongly depends on our ability to enhance productivity without sacrificing long-term production potential. An ecologically and economically sustainable strategy is the application of microorganisms, such as the diverse bacterial species of plant growth promoting bacteria (PGPB). The use of these bio-resources for the enhancement of crop productivity is gaining worldwide importance. Bacteria in Agrobiology: Crop Ecosystems describes the beneficial role of plant growth promoting bacteria with special emphasis on oil yielding crops, cereals, fruits and vegetables. Chapters present studies on various aspects of bacteria-plant interactions, soil-borne and seed-borne diseases associated with food crops such as rice, sesame, peanuts, and horticultural crops. Further reviews describe technologies to produce inoculants, the biocontrol of post harvest pathogens as a suitable alternative to agrochemicals, and the restoration of degraded soils.
zlib_text: Control of Bacterial Wilt Disease
  J.J. Smith and G.S. Saddler
  9
  9
  The Use of Avirulent Mutants
  of Ralstonia solanacearum to
  Control Bacterial Wilt Disease
  J.J. Smith and G.S. Saddler
  CABI Bioscience UK Centre (Egham), Bakeham Lane, Egham,
  Surrey TW20 9TY, UK
  Introduction
  Bacterial wilt disease is endemic in tropical, subtropical and warm temperate
  regions, where it represents a major constraint on the production of numerous
  agricultural crops. It remains one of the most intractable bacterial plant
  diseases. The causative organism, Ralstonia solanacearum, is highly diverse
  and, as a consequence, a number of attempts have been made to circumscribe
  infraspecific variation, with varying degrees of success (see Hayward, 1991).
  Our current, incomplete understanding of infraspecific diversity, coupled with
  gaps in knowledge on dissemination, infection and disease development have
  hampered the development of effective disease management strategies for
  many crops (Sequeira, 1994). Ecology of th