AUTHOR=McNeill Mark R. , Tu Xiongbing , Altermann Eric , Beilei Wu , Shi Shengjing 

TITLE=Sustainable Management of Medicago sativa for Future Climates: Insect Pests, Endophytes and Multitrophic Interactions in a Complex Environment

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Agronomy

VOLUME=4

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/agronomy/articles/10.3389/fagro.2022.825087

DOI=10.3389/fagro.2022.825087

ISSN=2673-3218

ABSTRACT=<p><italic>Medicago sativa</italic> L. (alfalfa, syn. lucerne) is an important forage crop for livestock, which is subject to attack from a range of insect pests and susceptible to diseases that can reduce production and persistence. This review considers the main insect pests affecting <italic>M. sativa</italic> in China and New Zealand as well as the wider plant resistance mechanisms and multitrophic interaction that occur between plants, insect pests, entomopathogens, endophytes, the environment, and climate change. This is with a view to identifying new research opportunities applicable to <italic>M. sativa</italic> that can be applied to improving production and persistence of this important agricultural crop. These opportunities include identification and activity of entomopathogens/endophytes (e.g., <italic>Bacillus</italic> and <italic>Pseudomonas</italic> spp., <italic>Metarhizium</italic> spp.) and plant growth enhancers (<italic>Trichoderma</italic>), as well as multitrophic plant-insect-microbial interactions.</p>