About this Research Topic

Background

In the living world, interactions are the key to an effective adaptation to the most various conditions. From the beginning of land colonization, plants have used to their advantage their chemical arsenal. Aside from allelopathy or competition purposes, various metabolites were revealed to be useful interactions with microorganisms. Fungi intermingle with plants in various ways: pathogens have detrimental effects on plant physiology, while mutualists enhance host defense responses and/or nutrient uptake. In both cases, species-specific signals have been found to trigger sensing mechanisms, as well as playing pivotal roles in plant-fungi relationship, facilitating colonization and contributing to both symbiotic and pathogenic associations. Plant secondary metabolites are crucial not only for intimate interaction but are also instrumental in shaping the rhizospheric mycobiota. Meanwhile, VOCs have been found to exert antifungal activities against fungal pests.

Our knowledge of the key mechanisms of plant-fungi interactions remains fragmented despite the number of studies conducted on this. Fortunately, the tremendous advancements in molecular biology, omics science, and microscopy opened up new possibilities not only for the identification of secondary metabolites but also for the characterization of ecological and evolutionary significance behind plant-fungi interactions. It must be emphasized that the understanding of these mechanisms could provide new insights into preventing plant diseases, improving plant productivity, and understanding agroecosystem stability.

We welcome submissions of review and original research papers focused on the most recent understandings of secondary metabolites in different plant-fungi interactions, including beneficial, symbiotic, mutualistic, as well as pathogenic, or simply trophic interactions. This Research Topic aims to provide advanced discoveries and new insights into the plant-fungal relationships. Opinion, innovative processes, and reports providing state-of-the-art methods are also welcome.

Please note that descriptive studies and those defining gene families or descriptive collections of transcripts, proteins, or metabolites, will not be considered for review unless they are expanded and provide mechanistic and/or physiological insights into the biological system or process being studied.

Keywords: biotic stress, symbioses, secondary metabolites, Mycorrhiza, fungal phytopathogens, plant metabolic response, metabolome

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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