With an advancement in global climate change, the frequency of extreme climatic events, such as high temperature, drought, and flooding, has increased. Meanwhile, outbreaks of crop fungal diseases are becoming more frequent and serious, and crop growth and food production are seriously threatened. This article focuses on the climate change-related aggravation of crop fungal diseases; summarizes the progress in research on the impact of climate change on soil-borne fungal diseases, air-borne fungal diseases, and seed-borne fungal diseases; and discusses the conventional methods for diagnosing crop fungal diseases. On the basis of comparative analysis, the concept of ecological control is proposed; ecological control can maintain the dynamic balance of crop–biology–soil, provide a good environment for the healthy growth of crops, and provide a new fungal disease control method in the context of climate change.

Pepper Phytophthora blight caused by Phytophthora capsici results in substantial losses in global pepper cultivation. The use of biocontrol agents with the dual functions of disease suppression and crop growth promotion is a green and sustainable way of managing this pathogen. In this study, six biocontrol strains of Trichoderma with high antagonistic activity against P. capsici were isolated and screened from the rhizosphere soil of healthy peppers undergoing long-term continuous cultivation. Morphological identification and molecular biological identification revealed that strains 2213 and 2221 were T. harzianum, strains 5111, 6311, and 6321 were T. brevicompactum, and strain 7111 was T. virens. The results showed that T. brevicompactum 6311 had the greatest inhibitory effect against P. capsici. The inhibition rate of 6311 on the mycelial growth of P. capsici was 82.22% in a double-culture test, whereas it reached 100% in a fermentation liquid culture test. Meanwhile, the pepper fruit tests showed that 6311 was 29% effective against P. capsici on pepper, and a potting test demonstrated that the preventive and controlling effect of 6311 on pepper epidemics triggered by P. capsici was 55.56%. The growth-promoting effect, germination potential, germination rate, radicle-embryonic axis length, germination index, and fresh weight of peppers cultured in the 6311 fermentation broth were significantly increased compared with the results for the control group. Scanning electron microscopy revealed that 6311 achieved the parasitism of P. capsici, producing siderophores and the growth hormone indoleacetic acid (IAA) to achieve disease-suppressive and growth-promoting functions. Transcriptomic results indicated that genes encoding proteins involved in plant disease resistance, namely flavanone 3-hydroxylase (F3H) and growth transcription factor (AUX22), were generally upregulated after the application of 6311. This study demonstrated that 6311 exhibits significant bioprotective and growth-promoting functions.

Metolachlor is extensively used and the most persistent chloroacetamide herbicide, thereby which its metabolites have been frequently detected in soils and surface and groundwaters. Microbial degradation is predominantly responsible for the removal of metolachlor from soil and water. However, few microbial strains reported previously are highly efficient in degrading potentials for metolachlor. We isolated the fungal strain MET-F-1 from an activated sludge, characterized as Penicillium oxalicum, which could degrade 88.6% of 50 mg/L metolachlor coupled with 0.1% glucose plus 0.1% yeast extract within 384 h under optimal conditions. Compared with metabolites produced by previously isolated microorganisms, different degradation products, i.e., MOXA, M2H, and MDES, detected by high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS), were produced through hydrolytic and reductive dechlorination by MET-F-1. This is the first report on the degradation of metolachlor by Penicillium oxalicum sp. Furthermore, field plot experiments using the wheat bran inoculum method were performed and demonstrated good metolachlor-degrading activity of this strain. This study serves as a steppingstone to promote MET-F-1 strain usage as a promising agent for metolachlor-contaminated soil remediation.

Background: Manure-amended agricultural soil is a critical reservoir of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), posing escalating threats to environmental health and food safety. However, the temporal trajectories of ARG prevalence throughout the complete reproductive cycle of cash crops, and their mechanistic linkages with fertilization regimes and microbial community succession, remain inadequately understood. Methods: To bridge this knowledge gap, we conducted an in situ field experiment over the entire growth period of Chinese cabbage at a long-term manure-amended farm in Tianjin, China. Six contrasting fertilization strategies were evaluated: unfertilized control (CK1), unfertilized baseline control (CK2), traditional full-rate combined manure–chemical fertilization (TF), traditional half-rate combined manure–chemical fertilization (T1), half-dose sole manure fertilizer (T2), and half-dose sole chemical fertilizer only (T3). Results: Our results demonstrated that ARG abundance and associated mobile genetic elements (MGEs) exhibited a pronounced transient surge immediately post-fertilization, yet reverted to baseline levels by harvest, revealing a tangible resilience of the soil resistome. Notably, the optimized half-organic fertilization (T2) effectively curtailed the proliferation of manure-derived pathogenic taxa while preserving beneficial keystone phyla (e.g., Acidobacteria and Proteobacteria), indicating a trade-off between nutrient provisioning and ecological filtering. Co-occurrence network analysis further identified MB-A2-108, Saccharimonadales, and Rokubacteriales as pivotal hosts for multidrug-resistant ARGs, underscoring that microbial interspecific interactions—rather than taxonomic richness alone—are the primary drivers of resistome succession. Quantitative risk assessment confirmed that the T2 regimen reduced the composite ARG contamination index (CF_zone) by 25% relative to conventional full fertilization (TF), while maintaining comparable cabbage yields. Conclusions: Collectively, our findings advocate for precision organic fertilization as a nature-based solution that synchronizes nutrient supply with crop demand, curtails ARG propagation, and mitigates long-term agroecological risks.

The problem of the foul odor caused by H₂S in livestock farms has become a major complaints. In this study, optimal sulfur-oxidizing bacteria (SOB) strains were screened from dairy farm wastewater and the adjacent soil for odor treatment. The strains and physiological functions were determined by identification and genome comparison, and the optimal operating conditions were determined by experiments under different conditions. The identification results showed that the strain that had the highest homology with Halomonas mongoliensis was Halomonas sp. AEB2. The comparative genomic results showed that the average nucleotide identity and DNA–DNA hybridization value were 95.8% and 68.6%, respectively. The optimization results were as follows: sodium succinate-carbon (10 g/L) and ammonium chloride-nitrogen (0.07 g/L). The optimal operating conditions were as follows: seeding rate 4%, temperature 30 °C, stirring speed 90 rpm, and pH 8. The oxidation products of AEB2 were mainly elemental sulfur and tetrathionate, and the metabolic pathway of AEB2 was constructed accordingly. This study suggests a feasible path to reduce H₂S emissions from dairy farms, and it provides theoretical support for the restoration of livestock environment and sustainability.