Rhizoctonia solani and Its Biological Control

Rhizoctonia solani is a soil- and seed-borne fungus belonging to class basidiomycete and capable of living free and as a saprophyte in the soil. It is divided into 14 anastomosis groups (AGs), which are incompatible with each other in terms of reproduction and proliferation. It has the potential to cause disease in various annual and perennial fruits, vegetables, and industrial and cereal crops. Plant diseases are mostly controlled by cultural methods; however, sometimes chemical control is also employed for this purpose. However, these control methods are mostly insufficient due to the soil-borne and saprophytic nature of the fungus. Therefore, researchers are working on other alternative methods. Biological control is one of the important ones among these methods. Antagonists used in biological control directly interact with R. solani through hyper-parasitism, antibiosis, or competition. Furthermore, antagonists trigger the defense reaction of host plants, which improves the control over the pathogens. The most important fungi species among these antagonists are; Trichoderma spp., Gliocladium spp., Verticillium biguttatum, and Stachybotrys elegans. The most important bacteria species used for the management of R. solani are; Fluoresent pseudomonas, Bacillus spp., Streptomyces spp., Pseudomonas fluorescens, and Erwinia spp. This review is focused on the biology, anastomosis groups, and biological control of R. solani. The antagonists used in biological control and studied mechanisms have been explained with examples. The review has been concluded with the latest developments in the literature.