This Research Topic is part of the Plant-Pest Interaction series:
Volume I: Acari and Thrips
Volume II: Hemiptera
Volume III: Coleoptera and Lepidoptera

Phytophagous insects and acari are important pests and pose a significant threat to crop growth and food production. These arthropods identify plants as a source of food and hosts for oviposition. In turn, plants respond by developing defense strategies to avoid damage and survive. Plants and phytophagous insect/acari share more than 350 million years of coevolution and still coexist; in response to the interaction, both plant and pest have evolved adaptations associated with metabolic costs. Thus, most plant-insect/acari interactions reach a stand-off where both survive although their development is suboptimal.

Plant-pest relationships include a combination of molecular, physiological, and ecological events. The interaction encompasses complex networks of molecules, signaling pathways, and regulators to overcome the respective defenses and counter-defenses. The specific response of the plant and the feeder species render different plant resistance-types and have significant impacts on agriculture and forestry.

The sharing of ideas among plant scientists and entomologists/acarologists is critical for a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms of insect and acari interactions with plants. The objective is to get knowledge and to improve techniques and applications for pest control. This Research Topic aims to cover and integrate recent findings on the molecular and physiological mechanisms induced/repressed by phytophagous insects/acari in their hosts, and to increase the understanding of the plant defense responses towards the pest within their ecological contexts. The topic is divided into 3 volumes. Volume 1: acari and thrips, volume 2: Hemiptera and volume 3: Coleoptera & Lepidoptera. All types of articles types (Original Research articles, Methods, comprehensive Reviews, Mini-reviews, etc.) are welcome.

In particular, this Research Topic will include a range of innovative approaches and findings to experimentally address the following topics of interest:

· Reciprocal plant and pest omics data derived from the interaction
· Constitutive and induced/repressed plant/pest defenses
· Early and late events in plant-phytophagous insect/acari interaction
· Hormonal regulatory crosstalk of the plant-pest interaction
· Effects of biotic and abiotic stresses or their combination in the plant-pest interaction
· Tritrophic interactions and their applications for Biological control
· Ecology and behavior of plant-phytophagous systems
· Integrated pest management practices

Please note, descriptive studies using omics approaches will be considered for review only if they address further insights into the functional characterization of the molecular pathways described.

Topic editor Colette Broekgaarden and Martin De Vos are employed by KeyGene N.V.. All other Topic Editors declare no competing interests with regards to the Research Topic subject.

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