Subject area responsible
Johan A. Stenberg
Professor at the Department of Plant Protection Biology
Telephone: +46706220042
E-mail: johan.stenberg@slu.se
Integrated Plant Protection
Last changed: 30 November 2025
The raison d'être of this subject area is to explore fundamental factors from an ecological and evolutionary perspective, from genes to ecosystems, that determine the degree to which plants experience illness, e.g., resulting from disease, pest damage, abiotic stress and lack of pollination, under current and future climate conditions, and to manipulate these factors in cropping systems to obtain high cropping security while minimizing the need for chemical input.
Integrated Plant Protection tackles these factors from a conceptual and holistic system perspective by integrating all relevant IPM elements and all biological levels of organization.
Ecological and molecular plant-microbe interactions (Eco-MPMI) At the molecular, ecological and mechanistic level, we study both microbe-microbe and plant-microbe interactions, at either the plant microbiome level or in the context of individual disease interactions, where we study individual genes and proteins that are important for the establishment of plant disease or biocontrol. The goal is to understand and develop healthy plants in the context of the plant as a holobiont, connecting the plant pathobiome, and the plant symbiome with plant traits and within an environmental context. Our focus is on the role of the microbes themselves and on connecting fundamental knowledge to biocontrol strategies for plant health. By taking a holistic approach combing ecological approaches with MPMI the IPP group are pioneers of new knowledge in this area.
Ecology and evolution of plant-biotic interactions Plants experience simultaneous biotic interactions with pestilent and beneficial organisms. Understanding the ecology and evolution of these complex interactions makes it possible to determine which traits that maximize plant fitness under current and future climate scenarios. Such understanding also makes it possible to identify trait weaknesses in current crop cultivars and to obtain improved traits from crop wild relatives. The IPP group is world leading in this area.
Pre-breeding for biocontrol and IPM Plant breeders have traditionally focused on improving resistance traits to reduce plant illness. The IPP group has pioneered – and is world-leading – in developing the science for breeding other traits that contribute to plant health. Pre-breeding for plant traits that facilitates biocontrol is one such area that we believe is very important to equip plants to combat pests and pathogens in the absence of chemical pesticides.
Evolution of tolerance to pesticides and abiotic stress 1. Pests and pathogens frequently evolve tolerance to plant protection products (PPP), including both chemical pesticides and biocontrol products. Durable use of PPPs requires filling fundamental knowledge gaps regarding how these products inflicts selection on the pathogens and how the pathogens, in turn, adapts. The selection pressure may be relaxed by certain IPM measures and establishment of evolutionary refuges. The IPP group leads important work to fill these knowledge gaps and thus contribute to sustainable use of PPPs.
2. Cultivated plants experience heat and drought stress resulting from climate change. The IPP group is involved in important work elucidating how crops can be designed for increased tolerance to abioticstress.
Epidemiology Pest and pathogen outbreaks can be local or develop into pandemics. The IPP group develops conceptual knowledge on the factors that lead to outbreaks locally and globally. Development of fundamental concepts requires a broad scientific interest and is important for the holistic understanding that the IPP group aims to achieve.