VIEW ARTICLE

Letter to the Editor

Root Camouflage and Disease Control. Gregory S. Gilbert, Jo Handelsman, and Jennifer L. Parke. Department of Plant Pathology, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Phytopathology 84:222-225. Accepted for publication 11 November 1993. Copyright 1994 The American Phytopathological Society. doi:10.1094/Phyto-84-222.

Biocontrol research on rhizosphere-specialized microorganisms is heavily influenced by the idea that successful biological control agents must extensively colonize the rhizosphere. Indeed, this ability to colonize the rhizosphere, often called rhizosphere competence, is a notable feature of many microorganisms that are effective biocontrol agents. Although rhizosphere competence is often encountered among root-specialized microbes, other evidence suggests that the use of microorganisms from nonrhizosphere soil may offer advantages over rhizosphere specialists as biological control agents.