About this Research Topic
Plants respond to various climatic stresses such as drought, salinity, elevated CO2, and extreme temperatures. These responses induce changes at the molecular, cellular, and physiological levels that restrict the establishment, growth, and development of the plant. Understanding these changes has become an important research goal due to concerns about the adverse effects of climatic stresses on agriculture sustainability, global food security, and even plant-based remediation technologies.
Some beneficial soil microorganisms, such as arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and plant growth promoting bacteria, are able to protect and promote the growth of their host plants by acting as bioprotectants (via induced systemic resistance), biopesticides (via antibiotic functions) and phytostimulators (via triggering hormonal signaling networks). Plant adaptation to various climatic stresses is dynamic and involves complex cross-talk within the regulatory network (e.g. transcription factors, kinase cascades, and signaling molecules). However, the detailed molecular, cellular and physiological mechanisms underlying plant–beneficial microbe interactions in climatic stress adaptation remain largely unknown.
This Research Topic welcomes contributions dissecting the role of plant-beneficial microbe interactions in plant abiotic stress adaptation. We encourage the submission of manuscripts focusing on both molecular and cellular (genes, proteins, metabolites and signaling molecules) as well as physiological (growth and yield) changes in response to individual and multiple climatic stresses. The following article types are particularly welcomed: Original Research, Reviews, and Opinions.
Keywords: Plant-microbe interactions, Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, Plant growth promoting bacteria, Climatic stresses, Adaptation, Response metabolism
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.