About this Research Topic

Background

Recent findings in plant-microbe research have revealed novel and vast dynamics between plants and microorganisms, including but not limited to interactions with bacteria, fungi, and viruses. Interactions between plants and microbes can be either beneficial as with symbiotic or other mutualistic relationships. Conversely, plant-microbe interactions can be detrimental as in the case of plant-pathogen interactions. OMICS technologies (e.g., genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, lipidomics) have contributed a fundamental understanding of how influential and important plant microbiomes play in plant fitness, plant disease, biotic and abiotic stress susceptibility/tolerance, soil health, multi-organismal communication, nutrient transfer and cycling, and ecosystem homeostasis. Omics analyses have uncovered new insights and understanding in the relationships and roles microbes and plants have in conveying improved fitness or harm to one another as well as how their interactions affect surrounding soil systems. This call invites authors to submit their current omics analyses and findings pertaining to plant-microbe interactions.

Plant-microbe omics analyses face specific challenges in the broad realm of omics research. In comparison to mammalian, medical, or diagnostic omics research, plants-microbe systems present additional obstacles which include, but are not limited to, biomolecule extraction due to plant cell wall recalcitrance, multi-ploidy and large plant-microbe metagenomes, a large number, diversity and quantities of secondary metabolites produced and exchanged, large/complex/diverse arrays of interacting microbiomes, interfering components in regards to sample preparation and analysis of soils (e.g., ectorhizospheres) and limited plant-microbe specific systems/bioinformatic resources/tools available. Therefore, the need to expand and improve upon plant-microbe specific sample preparation, analytical techniques, metabolic pathways characterization, isotope labelling, analysis and interpretation of nitrogen and carbon fluxes in plants, microbes and soils, and development of bioinformatics tools tailored to plant/crop systems in relation to their microbiomes is still a work in progress. From this perspective, this research topic seeks to provide the latest emerging aspects and applications of plant-microbe systems research based on omics and bioinformatics analyses, to include cutting-edge biomolecular extraction techniques, analytical approaches, and other technological and bioinformatic applications and advances. Reporting of plant-microbe associations, mechanisms and plant-driven microbiome remodelling in soil systems discovered via any single or integrated omics analyses are welcome.

This research topic is interested in current advances in processing, technology and applications of omics research addressing the unique technological, analytical and bioinformatic challenges in working with mutualistic or antagonistic plant-microbe systems. This topic seeks to include novel sample preparation or chemical and/or mechanical processes for biomolecular extraction, separation and enrichment of biomolecules. Single and integrated omics analytical methods or platforms to enhance or expand systems-level understanding (e.g., isotope labelling/tracking/analysis, chemical imaging, single-cell/few cell omics) and new bioinformatic tools, software enhancements, omics integration techniques and resources that enable plant-microbe specific systems understanding are of interest. As are the application of omics research on trending plant-microbe associations/interactions.

Keywords: Plant-microbe interactions, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, lipidomics, bioinformatics, systems biology, plant, metabolism, plant-microbe signaling, nutrient transfer, symbiosis, plant-microbe communication, plant-soil dynamics, plant omics

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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