Sonia Chadha
Esther Menendez
Nuria Montes- 1Nuclear Agriculture and Biotechnology Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, India
- 2Homi Bhabha National Institute, Mumbai, India
- 3Departamento de Microbiología y Genética, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain
- 4Institute for Agrobiotechnology Research (CIALE), Salamanca, Spain
- 5Unidad Asociada Grupo de Interacción Planta-Microorganismo, Universidad de Salamanca-IRNASA-CSIC, Salamanca, Spain
- 6Servicio de Reumatología, Unidad de Metodología, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria La Princesa (IIS-IP), Madrid, Spain
- 7Servicio de Reumatología, Hospital Universitario La Princesa, Madrid, Spain
- 8Plant Physiology, Pharmaceutical and Health Sciences Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universidad San Pablo-CEU, CEU-Universities, Boadilla del Monte, Spain
Editorial on the Research Topic
Women in microbe and virus interactions with plants: 2022/2023
Frontiers has taken a commendable initiative to celebrate International Women's Day by launching a series of Research Topics designed to highlight and empower women researchers. The Research Topic “Women in microbe and virus interactions with plants: 2022/2023” celebrates the women's achievements in this field, providing a platform to showcase and advance their research.
The UNESCO has emphasized the need for gender equality in science as essential for sustainable worldwide development (UNESCO Call to Action, 2024). Gender equality has been discussed for decades, achieving it remains challenging, particularly in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields, where women comprise only 30% of the researchers worldwide (UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2019). Women scientists frequently face obstacles in obtaining authorships, and their contributions are often under evaluated in scientific papers (Chander et al., 2023). This perpetuates a cycle of reduced impact and limited opportunities for women scientists (Sarabi and Smith, 2023). Addressing these challenges is imperative to improve the wellbeing, productivity, and equity of female scientists in STEM (Van den Besselaar and Sandström, 2016).
This Research Topic highlights the impactful contributions of women in the field of plant interactions with microbes and viruses. The Research Topic includes five high-quality research papers that explore the complexities of plant-microbe interactions, including colonization, detection, and disease control, providing critical insights for sustainable agriculture.
Crop production is significantly affected by various pathogens and pests. Addressing these challenges requires a comprehensive understanding of plant-microbe interactions, which encompass competition, commensalism, mutualism, and parasitism. Women scientists have played a pivotal role in advancing our understanding of these processes. The groundbreaking work of Margulis (1967) on symbiosis exemplifies this contribution. Margulis highlighted that cooperation is as important as competition in evolution, an idea that has profoundly influenced our understanding of plant-microbe interactions and has shaped critical areas of plant health and crop productivity.
Plant growth-beneficial bacteria (PGPB) are known to trigger plant metabolism, but their specific interactions and mechanisms remain complex. Galicia-Campos et al. report that Bacillus strain H47 significantly increases photosynthetic efficiency, CO2 fixation, and transpiration in Olea europaea under oxidative stress. It also stimulates the 1-deoxy-D-xylulose 5-phosphate (DOXP) and shikimate pathways and the synthesis of secondary metabolites. Interestingly, despite the significant accumulation of flavonoids in H47-treated olive plants, there is no direct correlation with the expression of flavonoid synthesis genes, suggesting the involvement of a networked pulse activation model similar to that proposed for innate immunity (Kollist et al., 2019; Gutierrez-Albanchez et al., 2020). The study identifies Bacillus velezensis H47 as a promising agent for boosting photosynthesis and secondary metabolism in olive trees under stressful environmental conditions.
Phytoplasmas are biotrophic pathogens (Namba, 2019) that reside within the plant's sieve elements (SEs; van Bel and Musetti, 2019; Lewis et al., 2022) and cause various diseases. Due to their minimal genome, they rely on the host's resources. In their study, Musetti et al. showed the interactions between phytoplasmas and the sieve-element endoplasmic reticulum (SE-ER) in the Arabidopsis thaliana-“Candidatus Phytoplasma asteris” pathosystem (Pagliari et al., 2016, 2021). The authors illustrate that phytoplasma infection leads to substantial morphological changes in the SE-ER. They propose that the phytoplasma effectors induce unfolded protein response (UPR)-related gene expression in companion cells through specialized plasmodesmata. This study provides insight into how phytoplasmas alter host responses to their advantage and enhances our understanding of plant immune responses, paving the way for future research aimed at improving plant defenses against these pathogens.
Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000 causes bacterial diseases in tomato and Arabidopsis thaliana. Its pathogenicity is largely dependent on the bacterial virulence proteins, known as effectors, translocated into the plant cytoplasm through the type III secretion system (T3SS). A novel mechanism uncovered by Marín-Ponce et al. illustrates the disruption of plant defenses by the bacterial type III secreted effectors (T3SEs) HopD1. Previously known to target proteins like NTL9 (Block et al., 2014), HopD1 is now recognized as a disruptor of vesicle trafficking, a critical process for robust immune responses. By highlighting the essential role of AtNHR2B-containing vesicle trafficking in plant defense and their disruption by HopD1, the study advances the understanding of how T3SEs target vesicle trafficking-mediated processes in plants, providing new insights into pathogen strategies and opening new avenues for enhancing plant immune responses.
Cui et al. investigated the relationships among Diaphorina citri (D. citri), the citrus tristeza virus (CTV; Moreno et al., 2008), and associated endosymbionts, highlighting their roles in citrus Huanglongbing (HLB), the most severe bacterial disease in the citrus industry. CTV causes citrus tristeza disease, a major viral disease in citrus carried by D. citri, which is also a vector of citrus HLB pathogen Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (CLas). The authors reveal that D. citri acquires and retains CTV for over 24 days, indicating the virus's persistence and CTV-facilitated transmission of CLas. CTV influences the D. citri's host preferences and alters endosymbiont dynamics, providing critical insights into the interactions that could mitigate CTV transmission and control citrus Huanglongbing disease.
The large-scale use of high-yield varieties, excessive chemical fertilizers, and climate change have transformed the status of minor rice diseases into major threats to rice production. The fungal pathogen Ustilaginoidea virens causes false smut in rice, a destructive disease worldwide. The currently employed inoculation methods for investigating pathogen pathogenicity often damage plant tissues, posing a challenge to gaining a deeper understanding of its infection processes. A novel non-destructive panicle sheath instillation technique is presented by Hu et al. to investigate U. virens infection stages, providing valuable insights into U. virens infection dynamics. The described non-destructive method preserves plant integrity and allows detailed observation of the pathogen's life cycle, marking a significant advancement in the plant-microbe interactions.
In summary, this Research Topic offers fresh insights, recent advancements, and future perspectives in the complex relationships between plants with microbes and viruses, while also addressing current challenges in agriculture and food security. Additionally, by showcasing the latest scientific advances made by women researchers, this Research Topic promotes gender equality and encourages more women to pursue careers in STEM fields.
Author contributions
SC: Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing. EM: Writing – review & editing. NM: Writing – review & editing.
Acknowledgments
The Research Topic Editors are thankful to all women authors who participated in this Research Topic. A special mention should be given are to the reviewers and Frontiers supporting team for their time and assistance.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
Publisher's note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
References
Block, A., Toruno, T. Y., Elowsky, C. G., Zhang, C., Steinbrenner, J., Beynon, J., et al. (2014). The Pseudomonas syringae type III effector HopD1 suppresses effector-triggered immunity, localizes to the endoplasmic reticulum, and targets the Arabidopsis transcription factor NTL9. New Phytol. 201, 1358–1370. doi: 10.1111/nph.12626
Chander, S., Luhana, S., Sadarat, F., Leys, L., Prakash, O., and Kumari, P. (2023). Gender and racial differences in first and senior authorship of high-impact critical care randomized controlled trial studies from 2000 to 2022. Ann. Intensive Care 13:56. doi: 10.1186/s13613-023-01157-2
Gutierrez-Albanchez, E., Gradillas, A., Garcia, A., Garcia-Villaraco, A., Gutierrez-Mañero, F. J., and Ramos-Solano, B. (2020). Elicitation with bacillus QV15 reveals a pivotal role of F3H on flavonoid metabolism improving adaptation to biotic stress in blackberry. PLoS ONE 15:e0232626. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0232626
Kollist, H., Zandalinas, S. I., Sengupta, S., Nuhkat, M., Kangasjärvi, J., and Mittler, R. (2019). Rapid responses to abiotic stress: priming the landscape for the signal transduction network. Trends Plant Sci. 24, 25–37. doi: 10.1016/j.tplants.2018.10.003
Lewis, J. D., Knoblauch, M., and Turgeon, R. (2022). The phloem as an arena for plant pathogens. Annu. Rev. Phytopathol. 60, 77–96. doi: 10.1146/annurev-phyto-020620-100946
Moreno, P., Ambrós, S., Albiach-Marti, M., Guerri, J., and Peña, L. (2008). Citrus tristeza virus: a pathogen that changed the course of the citrus industry. Mol. Plant Path. 9, 251–268. doi: 10.1111/j.1364-3703.2007.00455.x
Namba, S. (2019). Molecular and biological properties of phytoplasmas. Proc. Jpn. Acad. Ser. B 95, 401–418. doi: 10.2183/pjab.95.028
Pagliari, L., Martini, M., Loschi, A., and Musetti, R. (2016). Looking inside phytoplasma-infected sieve elements: a combined microscopy approach using Arabidopsis thaliana as a model plant. Micron 89, 87–97. doi: 10.1016/j.micron.2016.07.007
Pagliari, L., Tarquini, G., Loschi, A., Buoso, S., Kapun, G., Ermacora, P., et al. (2021). Gimme shelter: three-dimensional architecture of the endoplasmic reticulum, the replication site of grapevine pinot gris virus. Funct. Plant Biol. 48, 1074–1085. doi: 10.1071/FP21084
Sarabi, Y., and Smith, M. (2023). Gender diversity and publication activity-an analysis of STEM in the UK. Res. Eval. 32, 321–331. doi: 10.1093/reseval/rvad008
UNESCO Call to Action (2024). Closing the Gender Gap in Science. UNESCO Programme and Meeting Document [186401]. Available at: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000388641 (accessed August 21, 2024).
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van Bel, A. J. E., and Musetti, R. (2019). Sieve element biology provides leads for research on phytoplasma lifestyle in plant hosts. J. Exp. Bot. 70, 3737–3755. doi: 10.1093/jxb/erz172
Keywords: women scientists, symbiosis, plant promotion, phytoplasmas, plant defense, pathogenicity, plant immune responses, STEM
Citation: Chadha S, Menendez E and Montes N (2025) Editorial: Women in microbe and virus interactions with plants: 2022/2023. Front. Microbiol. 15:1532112. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1532112
Received: 21 November 2024; Accepted: 02 December 2024;
Published: 09 January 2025.
Edited and reviewed by: Jesús Navas-Castillo, IHSM La Mayora, CSIC, Spain
Copyright © 2025 Chadha, Menendez and Montes. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Sonia Chadha, c2NoYWRoYUBiYXJjLmdvdi5pbg==; Esther Menendez, ZXN0aGVybWVuZW5kZXpAdXNhbC5lcw==; Nuria Montes, bm1vbnRlc0BzYWx1ZC5tYWRyaWQub3Jn