Important: Please note that
Systems Microbiology does not consider descriptive studies that are solely based on amplicon (e.g., 16S rRNA) profiles, unless they are accompanied by a clear hypothesis and experimentation, and provide insight into the microbiological system or process being studied.
Important: Manuscripts submitted to this research topic choosing Frontiers in Pharmacology as their aim journal need to fully comply with the Four Pillars of Best Practice in
Ethnopharmacology (you can freely download the full version
here). Importantly, please ascertain that the material investigated is characterized in detail chemically (
pillars 2 a and b, see the ConPhyMP statement Front. Pharmacol. 13:953205. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2022.953205) also in cases of complex (polyherbal) preparations. The ethnopharmacological context needs to be described clearly (pillar 3d).
In recent years, the exciting new discovery of medicinal and food plants has confirmed its regulation of the microbiome, attracting many scientists around the world. For example, the gut microbiome has been proven to be one of the key factors regulating the occurrence and development of cancer. The intratumor microbiome also involves the regulation of the tumor immune microenvironment. Additionally, many studies have shown that medicinal and food plants regulate different epigenetics, including various modifications at the DNA and RNA levels, such as Ginsenoside Rh2 which can reduce m6A RNA methylation in cancer. However, the relationship between medicinal, food plants, epigenetic modification, and the microbiome is still in the exploration stage. For example, studies have shown that medicinal and food plants can regulate the changes of RNA m6A modification of the immune system, and affect the structure of the gut microbiome. In addition, virus replication is affected by RNA modification interference. Host epigenetic regulation has a certain degree of correlation in microbiomes, and the research based on medicinal and food plants has further revealed the possible regulatory mechanism.
In our Research Topic, association relationship or underlying mechanism among medicinal and food plants, epigenetic regulation, and microbiome in disease could be identified.
We are now particularly interested in:
• The relationship between medicinal and food plants treatment and microbiome in disease.
• Medicinal and food plants regulate RNA modification in case of microbiome change.
• Medicinal and food plants regulate DNA methylation during the change of microbiome.
• Medicinal and food plants control the expression of RNA or DNA methylation regulators which is associated with the change in the microbiome.