Disease-suppressive soils encompass specific plant - pathogen - microbial interactions and represent a rare example of an agroecosystem where soil conditions and microbiome together prevent the pathogen from causing disease. Such soils have the potential to serve as a model for characterizingsoil pathogen-related aspects of soil health, but the mechanisms driving the establishment of suppressive soils vary and are often poorly characterized.
Yet, they can serve as a resource for identifying markers for beneficial activities of soil microorganisms concerning pathogen prevention.