About this Research Topic

Background

As a result of the environmental impacts associated with chemical fertilizer misuse, society has turned its attention to alternative and sustainable forms of plant nutrition. By providing substances that would otherwise be scarce, plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPBs) can influence the availability of nutrients, directly affecting plants' metabolism. In addition to fixing nitrogen, and solubilizing phosphorus, and iron, they also produce hormones such as auxins, gibberellins, cytokinin's, and ethylene). Studies with PGPB around the world must be directed towards biological control and growth promotion integrated into a sustainable management system. Gradually, the problems identified in research with biological control are being solved. However, erratic results regarding the bacterization of cultures frustrate researchers and result from a lack of understanding of plant-microorganism interactions dynamics under various environmental conditions.

It is particularly interesting to note the PGPB's ability to interact with plants as nonpathogenic mutualists/commensals (symbionts/nonsymbionts). Plant-associated bacteria sensu lato can be found in, and around roots, in the vasculature, and on aerial tissues or in specifically developed organs, allowing them to be classified as phyllospheric, rhizospheric, and endophytic strains. Central to these interactions are genes, proteins, and their metabolite products that serve as bioactive modulators of plant and microbe physiology. With recent advances in omics technologies, the discovery of active genes, proteins, and molecules that regulate these interactions has progressed rapidly.

This Special Issue will highlight the biochemistry, genetics, genomics, molecular biology, and physiology associated with the pathogenic, symbiotic, and associative interactions of microbes with plants. It is our goal to contribute to crop improvement by soliciting original research articles and welcome reviews that enhance our understanding of plant-microbe interactions rather than simply descriptive papers. Studies that utilize multi-disciplinary approaches to characterize these interactions are strongly encouraged.

In this Special Issue, we invite you to send contributions concerning any aspects related to bacteria's interaction with plants, including those related to the well-known plant bacteria interactors (e.g., plant-growth-promoting bacteria, endophytes, and epiphytes) and their corresponding effects. The plant-bacteria relationship is immensely complex and dynamic; despite the advancements in omics, approaches, and technology in this field of research, some mechanisms behind this interaction remain obscure. The role of PGPB and whole bacterial communities in plant and ecosystem outcomes, the molecular aspects behind the interaction, as well as the exploitation of cutting-edge technological approaches for understanding plant-bacteria interactions, are also welcome.

Keywords: plant-bacteria, symbiotic interactions, symbiosis, PGPB, molecular biology, endophytes, epipihytes

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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