Question

Give an example of one microbial biocontrol agent.

Answer 1

Biocontrol agents can be defined as the control of growth of a pest or an insect using a living organism or a biological agent helping the plant to grow properly.

Complete Answer:
Biocontrol agents are basically natural agents which help in protecting the plants against natural enemies like parasites, pests, weeds, mites, etc. There are two types of biocontrols,
Augmentation - It is also known as inductive biocontrol and uses nematodes to act against a huge variety of weeds
Importation: It is also known as classical biocontrol and it uses natural enemies of the pest or parasite as a biocontrol agent.

Microbes as biocontrol agents :
Microbes commonly known as microorganisms are basically single celled creatures which are small enough to be seen with the naked eye. Examples of microbial biocontrol agents are - Bt cotton.

By the use of biotechnological knowledge, scientists have developed Bt cotton. In this Bacillus thuringiensis acts as the microbial biocontrol agent. Bt cotton is pest resistant and disease resistant as the plants are injected with toxic genes of Bacillus thuringiensis. In other plants, the Bt solution is sprayed over the plants in order to kill the spores of butterflies and other insects.

Some other examples of microbes as biocontrol agents are - Trichoderma and baculoviruses belonging to the genus Nucleopolyhedrovirus.

Note: The advantages of biocontrol agents are,
- They are cost effective and are also effective in all seasons.
- They are very easy to use.
- They are environment friendly as they do not lead to contamination of water.
- They help in reduction of use of chemicals containing pesticides and insecticides.