Bacteriophages as bactericides in plant protection

Control of plant pathogenic bacteria is a serious problem in production of many agricultural crops. High multiplication rate, adaptability and life inside plant tissue make bacteria unsuitable and inaccessible for most of control measures. Consequently, the list of bactericides available for plant protection is very short. Lately, biological control measures have been intensively studied as a potential solution of the problem. Investigation of bacteriophages, viruses that attack bacteria, is a fast-expanding area of research in plant protection. Several experiments have shown that they can be used as a very efficient tool for control of plant pathogenic bacteria. The fact that they are widespread natural bacterial enemies, simple for cultivation and management, host-specific, suitable for integration with other control practices, human and environment friendly, provide a great advantage for the application of phages over other bactericides.