About this Research Topic

Background

Fungi and plants reside closely in the natural environment. The complex relationship ranges from beneficial to antagonistic along the rhizosphere and phyllosphere interface. The pattern of such interactions governs essential aspects of plant biology research and is critical for crop improvement.

These associations might change upon environmental constraints like climate change, including drought and salinity, among others. Abiotic factors such as soil nutrition levels, humidity, temperature, oxygen, etc., can influence the fungi-plant association. Also, soil biological properties (plant microbiome, soil microbiome) can induce alterations in the interaction pattern. The beneficial fungi can aid the plants by growth promotion and enhancing resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses through secondary metabolites, effector proteins involving small RNAs, or other unknown mechanisms. On the contrary, pathogenic fungi cause various plant diseases that impact food security and crop yield. Therefore, the interactive effects of the plant-fungal relationship and environmental constraints affect agricultural output, environmental quality, crop productivity, ecological restoration efforts, and the global economy. A better understanding of such interactive effects could prepare us to preserve plant ecosystems in anticipated environmental changes predicted in the near future.

Over the past century, several fungi have been identified that positively impact numerous plant species. In addition to their benefits, certain pathogenic fungi, coupled with the metabolites they produce, can also have harmful consequences on plants. Even though progress has been made over the past several decades to elucidate the mechanism of actions adopted by diverse species of pathogenic and non-pathogenic fungi that alter the interactions, the molecular interplay underlying these interactions is not yet fully understood. It is crucial to have an insight into the beneficial and disease-causing mechanisms of fungi because of their significance in the ecosystem. As a consequence of this, the interactions that exist between plants and fungi are an exciting topic to study.

The research topic will therefore highlight critical scientific discoveries in both beneficial and harmful plant-fungal interactions. Articles that provide fresh perspectives on the molecular signaling processes that lead to a beneficial outcome in plant fitness and offer crucial underlying mechanisms governing this plant-fungal interaction are invited to be submitted.

This topic calls for research papers, review articles, mini-reviews, and brief reports exploring the interactions between fungi and plants, both positive and negative, across varying environmental conditions, such as nutrient deficiency and their impact on agriculture and ecosystem functioning. Manuscripts may cover molecular mechanisms of communication and recognition concerning environmental impact, as well as potential applications of these interactions in biotechnology and agriculture. Authors can align their research manuscripts with the following themes to ensure suitability for submission to this research topic:

● Overview of plant-fungi interactions under environmental constraints.

● Plant hormones as biostimulants in fungal-plant interactions.

● Novel plant genes involved in fungal pathogenesis and symbiosis.

● Mycorrhizal associations under varying environments.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Classification
• Data Report
• Editorial
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Classification
• Data Report
• Editorial
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Symbiosis, pathogenesis, fungi-plant interactions, crop productivity, climate change, biotic, abiotic

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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