Advanced Research in Plant–Pathogen Interactions
A special issue of Life (ISSN 2075-1729). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Science".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2026 | Viewed by 1239
Special Issue Editors
Interests: virus–host interaction; plant virus infection; epigenetics; plant immunity
Interests: crop immunity and resistance; genetics and evolution; integrative omics; molecular plant pathology
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Plant–pathogen interactions represent a central theme in plant biology, underpinning our understanding of plant health, crop productivity, and sustainable agriculture. Throughout evolution, plants have been continuously challenged by a broad spectrum of pathogens—including viruses, bacteria, fungi, oomycetes, and nematodes—and have consequently developed multilayered immune systems to perceive invasion and mount effective defense responses. In parallel, pathogens have evolved diverse strategies to evade, suppress, or exploit host immunity, resulting in a dynamic molecular arms race that shapes both plant defense and pathogen virulence.
This Special Issue, “Advanced Research in Plant–Pathogen Interactions,” is dedicated to showcasing recent advances that illuminate the molecular, cellular, and systemic mechanisms governing plant–pathogen interactions. We aim to bring together high-quality studies that provide mechanistic insights into host recognition of pathogens, immune signaling networks, pathogen effector functions, and host factors co-opted during infection. Particular emphasis is placed on innovative research that integrates cutting-edge technologies—such as genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, structural biology, and advanced imaging—to resolve complex interaction networks with high spatial and temporal resolution.
The scope of this Special Issue spans both fundamental and applied research. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, pattern- and effector-triggered immunity, RNA- and protein-based regulatory mechanisms, roles of small peptides and noncoding RNAs in plant defense, autophagy and other cellular quality-control pathways, pathogen adaptation and evolution, and translational strategies for enhancing crop disease resistance. By assembling contributions from diverse plant–pathogen systems and methodological perspectives, this Special Issue seeks to provide a comprehensive and forward-looking platform that will stimulate interdisciplinary dialogue.
We warmly invite researchers working in related fields to contribute latest findings to this Special Issue.
Dr. Tianye Zhang
Guest Editor
Dr. Bin Yong
Guest Editor Assistant
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. Life 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
- plant-pathogen interaction
- plant immunity
- pathogen effectors
- host defense mechanisms
- autophagy
- noncoding RNA
- small peptides
- molecular plant pathology
- crop disease resistance
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