Endophytic Fungi and Beneficial Microbes for Sustainable Crop Resilience
A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Pest and Disease Management".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2026 | Viewed by 268
Special Issue Editors
Interests: plant disease diagnosis; molecular detection; biological control; disease management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: molecular biology; analysis of fungal pathogenicity; plant-microbe interaction; soil microorganism
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Global climate change, soil degradation, and excessive use of agrochemicals pose severe threats to crop productivity and food security, thereby creating an urgent need to explore eco-friendly strategies—such as harnessing endophytic fungi and beneficial microbes—to sustainably enhance crop resilience. Against this backdrop, this Special Issue aims to consolidate research on the role of these microorganisms in boosting crop resilience, with its scope covering microbial symbiosis mechanisms, stress tolerance (to drought, salinity, and pathogens), soil health improvement, and their applications in sustainable agriculture. Notably, the study of microbe-crop interactions dates back decades: early research focused on rhizobial nitrogen fixation and mycorrhizal nutrient uptake, and as sustainable agriculture gained global traction, the field has expanded to investigate the multifunctional roles of endophytic fungi in enhancing crop resilience. Now, current cutting-edge research includes deciphering microbial metabolic pathways that regulate crop stress responses, developing microbe-based biofertilizers and biopesticides, and applying omics technologies (genomics, metabolomics) to unravel the complex microbe-crop-soil interactions.
We welcome original research articles, reviews, and short communications that address microbial mechanisms for crop resilience, field validation of microbial products, and interdisciplinary studies linking microbial ecology to agricultural practice.
Dr. Yi Cheng
Prof. Dr. Xiaofeng Su
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Agronomy is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- endophytic fungi
- beneficial microbes
- sustainable crop resilience
- stress tolerance
- microbial symbiosis
- soil health
- omics technologies
- biofertilizers
- food security
- agricultural sustainability
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