Work

Evidence boundaries and integrated disease management of microbial disease risks in protected Cymbidium faberi production: a translational framework and validation agenda

Year: 2026

Type: review

Abstract: Cymbidium faberi ( C. faberi ) is an economically and culturally important orchid in East Asia, yet direct species-specific evidence for microbial diseases under protected cultivation remains limited. This critical narrative review synthesizes evidence on orchid diseases, protected-crop disease ecology, plant pathogen detection and diagnosis, biological control, and plant microbiome interactions. Direct C. faberi studies comprise one localized anthracnose-oriented report, baseline studies of root- and rhizosphere-associated microorganisms, and candidate antagonistic endophytes. However, they do not establish a contemporary pathogen inventory, species-resolved epidemiology, disease-associated microbiome dynamics, or validated management efficacy. Evidence from related Cymbidium species, other orchids, protected crops, and general plant-pathology systems is therefore interpreted according to host proximity, pathogen biology, production environment, and management relevance. Within this synthesis, disease risk is organized provisionally in a disease-complex framework in which environmental filtering, pathogen pressure, host status, and microbiome resilience are considered jointly; the framework does not assume that stable multi-pathogen synergistic pathogenesis has been demonstrated. A node-based translational Integrated Disease Management framework links mother-plant accession, clonal propagation, potting, vegetative growth, flowering, abnormal-batch disposition, and release decisions. The principal research gaps are pathogen isolation and causal confirmation, species-resolved pathogen surveillance, quantitative microclimate and inoculum thresholds, microbiome-function testing, and prospective validation of diagnostic and prediction tools. The framework is intended as a provisional decision-support and research-prioritization structure rather than a validated C. faberi -specific management standard.

Source: Frontiers in Plant Science

DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2026.1952084