Roots play essential roles in plant growth, such as anchoring the plant in the soil and supporting above-ground structure, absorbing and transporting water and nutrients, synthesizing various plant hormones and metabolites, and interacting with rhizospheric microorganisms. Besides they form a valuable source of food, medicine, and raw materials. Root diseases not only decrease plant yield, but also reduce commodity traits of economically important crops such as beetroot, (sweet) potatoes, carrots, and medicinal plants, etc.

The soil-borne nature of rhizospheric pathogens complicates their control in agriculture, affecting crop yield and commodity quality, particularly for crops that rely on roots as their primary products. A comprehensive molecular understanding of the interplay between root and rhizospheric microorganisms can facilitate the development of new strategies to combat bacterial, fungal, and nematodal pathogens, while retaining compatibility with beneficial root-colonizing microbes.

This Research Topic aims to collect papers that focus on elucidating the molecular mechanisms underlying root-pathogen interactions and developing new methods to control root diseases in plants. Topics of interest include but are not limited to, colonization of the root by pathogenic microorganisms, host immune responses and the corresponding counteraction of invading pathogens, and the interplay in rhizospheric microbiomes. The state-of-the-art “omics-” and imaging technologies, and their combination with functional analysis tools such as genome editing, have provided novel perspectives for understanding the above processes.

In this Research Topic, we welcome submissions of different article types, such as Original Research, Methods, Mini-review, Review, and Perspective articles, dealing with interactions between roots and pathogenic microorganisms in plants. We particularly encourage studies on economically important crops or plants used for medicinal purposes. Manuscripts should address the following themes:
• Plant root immune responses
• The mechanisms of root colonization or infection by rhizospheric pathogens
• The discovery and application of novel resistance- or susceptible genes against root pathogens
• Technological advancements in research of root diseases
• Formulations for root disease control caused by rhizospheric microorganisms
• The potential association between rhizosphere microbiome and secondary metabolite biosynthesis in plants.

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Frontiers in Plant Science

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