About this Research Topic

Background

Plants do not function autonomously but inevitably depend on the organisms that reside in their rhizosphere (rhizobiome) and that directly or indirectly affect their performance. The members of a rhizobiome are organized into lower trophic groups including bacteria, fungi, and their protist consumers, and higher trophic groups including nematodes and microarthropods. The functional enrichment of a specific rhizobiome, as well as the interactions among different rhizobiome groups and plants, positively or negatively influence plant and soil health under different environmental conditions. Understanding what drives the assembly of a specific rhizobiome and its interaction with the plant in natural and agricultural systems is essential for providing better natural conditions for plant growth and resilience.

Climate change and continuing soil pollution with different heavy metals and chemicals have led to a significant reduction of soil biodiversity and its functions. Insufficient understanding of the interactions between plants and soil organisms and their importance in maintaining healthy habitats has been one of the reasons for the unconscious exhaustion of soil biological resources. Therefore, the aim of this Research Topic is to condense the latest research on how natural and cultural plants communicate with the rhizosphere, especially when exposed to different stressors. The stressors can be both abiotic (e.g. drought, temperature, heavy metal contamination, pesticide application) or biotic (e.g. the presence of plant pathogens and pests but also changes in the composition of neighboring plants). It aims to include the latest studies on the mechanisms that plants use to recruit their symbionts and the assembly of rhizobiome communities in response to different stressors. It also aims to include articles on the multi-trophic interactions among members of the rhizobiome and their influence on plant performance, but also the influence of plant communities on rhizobiome assembly.

This Research Topic welcomes high-quality original research and review articles that address themes that include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Plant-rhizobiome interactions under biotic and abiotic stresses;
• The latest tools for studying plant-rhizobiome interactions;
• Rhizobiome-mediated plant defense against pathogens and pests;
• Multi-trophic interactions in the rhizosphere and the effects on plant performance;
• Host-pathogen and host-symbiont interactions in the rhizosphere;
• Interactions between plant-beneficial and plant-deleterious rhizobiome members;
• Changes in the composition of rhizosphere communities under stress.

Keywords: rhizosphere, rhizobiome, abiotic stress, biotic stress

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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