Valorization of Plant-Genetic Resources and Microbial Communities to Cope with Biotic/Abiotic Stress

Dear Colleagues,

The imminent climate change is expected to have a severe impact on crop production yields, thus posing a threat to food security. Parallelly, unfavorable environments can effectuate qualitative shifts, inflicting a severe downgrade in crops’ nutrient value. 

As sessile organisms, plants need to adapt to an ever-changing environment and cope with simultaneous biotic stresses caused by pathogens or pests and adverse environmental conditions, such as heat, drought, salinity, or humidity (due to the higher evaporation rates). To survive, plants have evolved an array of sophisticated physiological and biochemical responses that may have a profound direct effect on plants per se but can also affect the assembly of the plant microbiome and hence plant–microbe equilibria.

Although plant responses to biotic/abiotic stresses have been widely documented across model plants, still the role of diverse genetic resources and the interplay with microbial communities is an issue that remains largely uncharted, despite its significance. Hence, there is a need to highlight these effects (at the molecular to phenotypic level), as well as to identify specific genetic resources and microbial communities that could counterbalance the quantitative and qualitative decrease of food supply.

In this Special Issue, we would like to present a multidiscipline forum and warmly welcome contributions (original research, opinions, perspectives and reviews), with a particular focus on the responses to stressor factors affecting the quality of crops and reducing the valorization of arable crops, vegetables, and fruits. Moreover, we especially consider studies that highlight the comparative analysis of plant genetic resources or/and plant-associated microbial communities that are anticipated to outperform in these adverse stimuli, thus contributing to food security.

Dr. Nikolaos Nikoloudakis
Asst. Prof. Iakovos Pantelides
Guest Editors

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