Plant Symbiotic Fungi

Dear Colleagues,

Plant Symbiotic fungi are fungi that form mutually beneficial relationships with plants, typically colonizing their roots, stems, or leaves. The rapid development of omics technologies has significantly advanced our understanding of the diversity of plant symbiotic fungi. Plant symbiotic fungi exchange nutrients and resources with their host plants, enhancing their capacity to absorb water, minerals (e.g., phosphate, nitrogen, and potassium), and withstand environmental stresses (e.g., drought, salinity, pathogens, and insects). Additionally, plant–fungal symbiosis plays a critical role in ecosystem functioning. In return, plants provide carbohydrates or liquids to sustain fungal growth. The establishment of this relationship involves signal exchange between host plants and symbiotic fungi. Generally, plant symbiotic fungi include mycorrhizal fungi and endophytic fungi. Among them, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) have co-evolved with plants for over 400 million years, established symbiotic relationship with about 80% of land plants, and formed branched structures called arbuscules for nutrient exchange. AMF inoculation has been reported to enhance the growth and productivity of various crops.

This Special Issue aims to give an overview of the most recent advances in the field of plant symbiotic fungi. It also aims to provide contributions showcasing advances in the diversity of the plant symbiotic fungal community, the molecular mechanisms of nutrient uptake enhancement, abiotic and biotic stress tolerance by symbiotic fungi, signal exchange and gene networks between host plants and symbiotic fungi, and symbiotic relationships with ecosystem functioning (e.g., carbon sequestration). Potential topics include, but are not limited to, the diversity of plant symbiotic fungal community, the molecular mechanisms of symbiotic fungi-mediated nutrient uptake enhancement, abiotic and biotic stress tolerance, signal exchange and gene networks during the establishment of plant–fungal symbiosis, and the impacts of plant–fungal symbiosis on ecosystem functioning.

Dr. Wei Zhang
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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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. Journal of Fungi 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.

• fungal communities
• nutrient uptake
• abiotic and biotic stress tolerance
• signal exchange
• gene network
• ecosystem functioning
• arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF)