The interaction between plants and microorganisms plays a major role in plant growth promotion and disease management. While most microorganisms directly influence plant health, some indirectly support growth through pest and disease suppression. Endophytic entomopathogenic fungi are diverse, easily localized, and have long-lasting effects on insect pests. When inhabiting plants, these fungi alter secondary metabolites, volatile organic compounds, and microbiomes, enhancing plant resistance to pests and diseases and sometimes improving growth. However, their persistence in plant systems may be challenged by the plant’s defense mechanisms or by human interventions such as insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, and phyto-insecticides, which are common in agriculture. As effective biocontrol agents, endophytic entomopathogenic fungi can also be integrated with other pest management strategies like predators, parasitoids, and chemicals. This review will explore the impact of endophytic entomopathogens on plant systems and their compatibility with other management practices.

Across the globe, rice cultivation is seriously affected by blast disease, caused by Magnaporthe oryzae. This disease has caused heavy yield loss to farmers over the past few years. In this background, the most affordable and eco-friendly strategy is to introgress blast-resistant genes from donors into elite rice cultivars. However, it is not only challenging to evolve such resistance lines using conventional breeding approaches, but also a time-consuming process. Therefore, the marker-assisted introduction of resistance genes has been proposed as a rapid strategy to develop durable and broad-spectrum resistance in rice cultivars. The current study highlights the successful introgression of a blast resistance gene, i.e., Pi9, into CO 51, an elite rice cultivar which already has another resistance gene named Pi54. The presence of two blast resistance genes in the advanced backcross breeding materials (BC₂F_2:3) was confirmed in this study through a foreground selection method using functional markers such as NBS4 and Pi54MAS. The selected positive introgressed lines were further genotyped for background selection with 55 SSR markers that are specific to CO 51. Consequently, both Pi9 as well as Pi54 pyramided lines, with 82.7% to 88.1% of the recurrent parent genome recovery, were identified and the selected lines were evaluated under hotspot. The analysis outcomes found that both the lines possessed a high level of resistance against blast disease during the seedling stage itself. In addition to this, it was also noticed that the advanced breeding rice lines that carry Pi9 + Pi54 were effective in nature and exhibited a higher degree of resistance against blast disease compared to the lines that were introgressed with a single blast resistance gene. Thus, the current study demonstrates a rapid and a successful introgression and pyramiding of two blast resistance genes, with the help of markers, into a susceptible yet high-yielding elite rice cultivar within a short period of time. Those gene pyramided rice lines can be employed as donors to introgress the blast-resistant genes in other popular susceptible cultivars.

The global population, set to exceed 10 billion by 2050, presents enormous challenges to food, health, nutrition, energy, and environmental security. Plant breeding methods have continuously evolved to develop improved crop varieties to meet these demands. Among the recent developments, genetically modified crops (GMCs) have emerged as a viable option to enhance crop yields, nutritional value, biofuel potential, and climatic adaptability. However, extensive application of GMCs is a very controversial subject due to biosafety issues, environmental impacts, economic viability, and legal considerations. This review presents a critical evaluation of the merits and limitations of GMCs, along with a discussion of available alternative approaches, with particular reference to the Indian context. While GMCs have been developed with increased yields, improved shelf life, reduced pesticide and herbicide use, and improved stress tolerance, potential risks such as health hazards and socioeconomic impacts on smallholding farmers in the developing world cannot be disregarded. Besides, regulatory policies and public perception have a significant influence on the acceptability and commercialization of GMCs, especially in countries like India. The discussion therefore encompasses other sustainable alternatives, including marker‐assisted selection, genomics‐aided breeding, cisgenesis, intragenesis, and stringently regulated gene editing, that embody environment‐friendly approaches to agricultural enhancement. A collective assessment of these techniques is presented in order to examine their prospects for delivering long‐term biosecurity without compromising environmental and human health. By integrating scientific advances, policy environments, and social perceptions, this review aims to present a balanced perspective of GMCs and their role in the future of global agriculture, particularly in the Global South.