About this Research Topic
Certain bacteria and fungi cause diverse and devastating diseases in staple food crops. Many known diseases, such as blights, cankers, blasts, and rot, have severe threats to global crops. Moreover, new infections are increasing, and related pathogens have been identified. Therefore, a deep understanding of the crops-pathogens interactions is crucial to preventing and treating such diseases, especially for the molecular mechanisms of new pathogens infecting diverse hosts, such as virulence factors and proteases production.
The control of diseases is achieved by applying chemical fertilizers and anti-microbial agents to crops. Although such applications have contributed significantly to the management of diseases and spectacular improvement in food security, chemical fertilizers may change the soil environment, and applications of anti-microbial agents could result in hazardous chemicals and resistant microorganisms appearing, which destroy the ecosystem. Therefore, the use of microorganisms as biological agents to reduce diseases seems to be an appropriate alternative to chemicals. Meanwhile, beneficial soil microbes play a crucial role in providing nitrogen sources to crops, promoting the photosynthesis and metabolism of crops, mitigating abiotic tresses, strengthening crops against pests and diseases, and increasing the output. Besides, soil microbes could remove pollutes caused by chemical agent utilization in the soil. Therefore, it is essential to explore the direct or indirect interactions between microorganisms and crops.
We invite frontline researchers to submit original articles exploring “Microorganisms—Crops Interactions: Diseases and Symbiosis” in this research topic. The potential topics include but are not limited to:
(1) The molecular mechanisms of bacterial and fungal pathogenicity for crops, such as virulence factors, proteases, biofilm, quorum sensing, etc.;
(2) Microorganisms and secondary metabolites used in agricultural interventions (biocontrol, nutrient cycling, soil characteristic improvement, and bioremediation);
(3) Develop new technologies to improve biological control against plant pathogens and promote plant-resistant abiotic and biotic stresses: proteomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics, and metagenomics.
The control of diseases is achieved by applying chemical fertilizers and anti-microbial agents to crops. Although such applications have contributed significantly to the management of diseases and spectacular improvement in food security, chemical fertilizers may change the soil environment, and applications of anti-microbial agents could result in hazardous chemicals and resistant microorganisms appearing, which destroy the ecosystem. Therefore, the use of microorganisms as biological agents to reduce diseases seems to be an appropriate alternative to chemicals. Meanwhile, beneficial soil microbes play a crucial role in providing nitrogen sources to crops, promoting the photosynthesis and metabolism of crops, mitigating abiotic tresses, strengthening crops against pests and diseases, and increasing the output. Besides, soil microbes could remove pollutes caused by chemical agent utilization in the soil. Therefore, it is essential to explore the direct or indirect interactions between microorganisms and crops.
We invite frontline researchers to submit original articles exploring “Microorganisms—Crops Interactions: Diseases and Symbiosis” in this research topic. The potential topics include but are not limited to:
(1) The molecular mechanisms of bacterial and fungal pathogenicity for crops, such as virulence factors, proteases, biofilm, quorum sensing, etc.;
(2) Microorganisms and secondary metabolites used in agricultural interventions (biocontrol, nutrient cycling, soil characteristic improvement, and bioremediation);
(3) Develop new technologies to improve biological control against plant pathogens and promote plant-resistant abiotic and biotic stresses: proteomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics, and metagenomics.
Keywords: crops diseases, plant-pathogens, virulence factors, proteases, biofilm, biological control, abiotic and biotic stresses, soil microbiome, bioremediation, microbial symbiosis and crops nutrition, crops-microbe interactions, omic tools
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