Disease management is critical to ensuring healthy crop yields and is often targeted at flowers because of their susceptibility to pathogens and direct link to reproduction. Many disease management strategies are unsustainable however because of the potential for pathogens to evolve resistance, or nontarget effects on beneficial insects. Manipulating the floral microbiome holds some promise as a sustainable alternative to chemical means of disease control. In this perspective, we discuss the current state of research concerning floral microbiome assembly and management in agroecosystems as well as future directions aimed at improving the sustainability of disease control and insect-mediated ecosystem services.
Keywords: anthosphere; biological control; insect-mediated ecosystem services; microbiome; plant pathogens.