Microbiota of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants: Diversity, Community Structure, Functions, and Applications
A special issue of Microorganisms (ISSN 2076-2607). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Microbe Interactions".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 March 2026 | Viewed by 28
Special Issue Editor
Interests: environmental microbiology; plant-microbe interaction; mycorrhizal symbiosis; fungal biology; microbial genomics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs) represent a rich reservoir of bioactive compounds with therapeutic, nutritional, and industrial importance. Increasing evidence highlights that the microbiota associated with MAPs, encompassing bacteria, fungi, and other microorganisms, plays a fundamental role in plant health, productivity, and resilience. These microbial communities contribute to nutrient cycling, stress tolerance, and the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, while also offering innovative solutions for sustainable agriculture.
Understanding the diversity, community structure, and functional potential of MAP-associated microbiota is therefore crucial, particularly in the face of global climate change. Environmental stressors such as drought, salinity, and temperature extremes threaten MAP cultivation and metabolite yield. Harnessing beneficial microbial interactions offers promising strategies to mitigate these stresses through plant growth-promoting traits, biocontrol activities, and enhanced tolerance to abiotic challenges.
This Special Issue of Microorganisms aims to bring together cutting-edge research on the microbiota of medicinal and aromatic plants. We invite contributions that address the following:
- Microbial diversity, community assembly, and ecological functions associated with MAPs;
- Plant–microbe interactions and their impact on secondary metabolite production;
- Plant growth-promoting microorganisms (PGPMs) and their applications in MAP cultivation;
- Microbiome responses to abiotic stresses (drought, salinity, heat, etc.) under climate change;
- Advances in multi-omics, bioinformatics, and experimental approaches to study MAP microbiota;
- Reviews, mini-reviews, and opinion papers on emerging perspectives in this field.
We welcome original research articles, short communications, reviews, and opinion papers that expand our understanding of MAP-associated microbiota and their applications in sustainable agriculture and natural product enhancement.
Prof. Dr. Mohamed Hijri
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- medicinal and aromatic plants
- microbiota
- plant–microbe interactions
- plant growth–promoting microorganisms
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