About this Research Topic
The root nodule is a complex niche, harbouring not only the rhizobial strains that elicited its formation, but also many other microbial partners which functions are overlooked or not understood yet. Not so long ago, nodules were thought as occupied by single strains of compatible rhizobia. Although colonies with different morphologies appeared when rhizobia strains were isolated from leguminous nodules, those colonies were considered contaminants and were often discarded. Nowadays, we know that there are microbial companions with putative functions inside the root nodule. Omics technologies are fundamental tools for carrying out microbiome analyses that allow us to improve our knowledge and understanding of niches and microecosystems, such as root nodules. The study of the inhabitants of the root nodules and their functionalities, a.k.a. the nodule microbiome, at several complexity levels, including genome sequencing and mining, culturomics and, diverse (meta)-omics (genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics) are welcome within our Research Topic.
With this Research Topic, we aim to answer some unsolved key questions, such as:
1) Who is accompanying rhizobia inside nodules?
2) Which are the functions of the microbial partners?
3) Does a microbial partner exhibit host specificity?
4) How do they colonise and enter the inner tissues of the nodule?
5) How are nodule microbial communities assembled?
6) Do microbial partners contribute to nodule development?
7) Can microbial partners help non-compatible rhizobia to colonise non-host legumes?
8) Where microbial partners come from: soil and/or seeds?
9) Which are the factors affecting nodule microbiome?
Answering these questions will contribute to a better understanding of the complex functionality of root nodules and what is their contribution to the fitness of legumes, particularly under stress, and to predict the evolution of the rhizobium-legume association in a scenario of climate change.
Submissions should cover the latest research focused (but not limited to) on nodule microbiome. Research including:
- Isolation and functional characterization of nodule endophytic microbial populations.
- Molecular dialogues among plant-rhizobia-other microbial partners.
- Nodule entry points and colonisation patterns and mechanisms.
- Microbial partners function in the inner nodule.
- Host-specific responses to rhizobia and other microbial partners.
- Microbial partners localization on root nodules through in situ
localization or nodule histology.
- Role of microbial partners on legume fitness are most welcome.
- Genomic analysis of nodule helper bacteria and nodule
transcriptomic analysis are also under the scope of this Research
Topic.
The Topic Editors encourage the submission of Original Research and Reviews. Methods or Mini Reviews will also be accepted. Although we are more interested in original research articles, we do not wish to establish a strong limitation and we will accept other article types.
With this Research Topic, we aim to answer some unsolved key questions, such as:
1) Who is accompanying rhizobia inside nodules?
2) Which are the functions of the microbial partners?
3) Does a microbial partner exhibit host specificity?
4) How do they colonise and enter the inner tissues of the nodule?
5) How are nodule microbial communities assembled?
6) Do microbial partners contribute to nodule development?
7) Can microbial partners help non-compatible rhizobia to colonise non-host legumes?
8) Where microbial partners come from: soil and/or seeds?
9) Which are the factors affecting nodule microbiome?
Answering these questions will contribute to a better understanding of the complex functionality of root nodules and what is their contribution to the fitness of legumes, particularly under stress, and to predict the evolution of the rhizobium-legume association in a scenario of climate change.
Submissions should cover the latest research focused (but not limited to) on nodule microbiome. Research including:
- Isolation and functional characterization of nodule endophytic microbial populations.
- Molecular dialogues among plant-rhizobia-other microbial partners.
- Nodule entry points and colonisation patterns and mechanisms.
- Microbial partners function in the inner nodule.
- Host-specific responses to rhizobia and other microbial partners.
- Microbial partners localization on root nodules through in situ
localization or nodule histology.
- Role of microbial partners on legume fitness are most welcome.
- Genomic analysis of nodule helper bacteria and nodule
transcriptomic analysis are also under the scope of this Research
Topic.
The Topic Editors encourage the submission of Original Research and Reviews. Methods or Mini Reviews will also be accepted. Although we are more interested in original research articles, we do not wish to establish a strong limitation and we will accept other article types.
Keywords: Root Nodule, Rhizobia, Endophytes, Microbiome, Legumes, Omics, Sustainability, Plant Growth Promotion, Symbiosis, Plant Protection, Biological Nitrogen Fixation, Mutuallistic Interactions.
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.
