About this Research Topic
As was highlighted in the Research Topic How Can Secretomics Help Unravel the Secrets of Plant-Microbe Interactions, one fungal strategy to influence the plant-microbe interaction is via secretion of functional proteins. The identity of secreted fungal proteins can be efficiently predicted by bioinformatic analyses, provided, in silico tools are validated on experimental datasets. Wet-lab studies to confirm bioinformatic predictions have shown that microbes actively shape this interaction that is also dependent on environmental factors such as temperature, by secretion of peptidases, proteases and protease inhibitors, effector proteins, and the phytohormone salicylic acid. This communication between microbes and their host plant is mediated by exosomes and other extracellular vesicles (EVs), membrane-surrounded particles that are released by cells into their environment. The flow of information (i.e. delivered proteins or nucleic acids) is not only from the microbe to the plant but also in the opposite direction: some host plant EVs are taken up by pathogenic fungi, which may result in reducing fungal virulence.
Secretion of EVs by plants may be a plant defense mechanism that can be exploited for the development of novel efficient disease control strategies, such as plant exosome-mediated targeted delivery of antimicrobial peptides detrimental to the pathogen. Thus, knowledge about secretomes and other ways of communication of both fungi and plants is essential for the development of new disease control strategies.
In this Research Topic, we therefore aim to address the recent advances and challenges in the understanding of plant-fungal interactions, falling under, but not limited to:
- In vitro/in vivo secretomics
- Plant responses
- Proteases
- Bioinformatics and prediction tools
- Exosomes and extracellular vesicles
- Effectors
- Ecto- or endo-micorrhyzal associations
- Fungal pathogens of crops
- Fungal threat to natural ecosystems
Keywords: Secretomics, Plant-Fungi Interactions, Exosomes, Extracellular Vesicles
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.