Signaling Molecules and Their Roles in Plant–Microbe Interactions for Environmental Stress Resilience

Dear Colleagues,

Plants are constantly challenged by a myriad of abiotic and biotic environmental stressors, posing significant challenges to ensure sustainable food security. Plants must elicit adequate adaptation responses to live under such stressful conditions, the majority of which are regulated and directed by several signaling molecules (SMs). SMs are at the core of plant cellular processes, producing signals critical for plant growth, development, and survival under stressful conditions. These SMs, which include phytohormones, reactive oxygen/nitrogen species, nitrogenous compounds, volatile compounds, small peptides, and gasotransmitters, orchestrate various intra-and inter-cellular communications for responding to environmental changes. Additionally, plants secrete these SMs to establish mutual relationships with the rhizosphere-associated microbes. Upon receiving plant-derived signals, microbes also produce a plethora of molecules and compounds, including antibiotics, certain proteins and peptides, volatile compounds, and quorum-sensing signals, which play significant roles in safeguarding plants from pathogens and environmental stresses. Effective interactions between plants and microbes can promote plant growth and stress resilience by triggering host responses at cellular and molecular levels. Thus, understanding the complexities of plant–microbe interactions may lead to novel ways of increasing plant survival and productivity while being ecologically benign. It is crucial to elucidate the molecular basis of SM-mediated plant–microbe interactions, and the functional roles of beneficial microbes to harness the potential of both plants and microbes to withstand environmental stress that adversely affects plant productivity. Our understanding of plant–microbe interactions and their importance for agricultural productivity have greatly advanced in recent years due to the advancement of genomics, proteomics, and metagenomics tools. However, how signaling molecules modulate the dialogues between plants and microbes, and how their mutual communication benefits plants are still far from being well characterized. In this Special Issue, we intend to collect novel findings elucidating the holistic mechanisms/pathways associated with signaling molecule-mediated plant–microbiome interactions for enhancing plant resilience to environmental stresses. The current Special Issue invites new findings in the following specific areas:

1. Molecular mechanisms of signaling molecules in plant–microbe interactions.
2. The role of the plant microbiome in the regulation of plant growth and development.
3. Signaling molecules and their roles in microbe-mediated nutrient acquisition under stressful conditions.
4. Crosstalk among signaling molecules in plant adaptation to environmental stresses.
5. Integrated metabolomics, hormonomics, proteomics, and transcriptomics approaches to evaluate plant–microbe interactions for plant stress tolerance.
6. Host-mediated microbial recruitment associated with abiotic stress resilience in plants.
7. Genetic studies involving loss-of-function and gain-of-function for elucidating signaling molecules and pathways involved in symbiotic associations.
8. The role of phytohormones in shaping microbiome for the improvement of plant stress tolerance.
9. Identification of novel signaling molecules establishing plant–microbe interactions in a changing climate.
10. Advances in biotechnological applications to improve plant–microbe symbiosis for sustainable agriculture.

We welcome the submission of research and review papers that will contribute to our understanding of this fascinating topic of plant–microbe interactions and aid in the development of plants that are more adaptable to changing environmental conditions. Authors are encouraged to consult with Guest Editors before submitting their manuscript(s) by sending an outline with the authors’ list.

Dr. Ahmad Humayun Kabir
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. Microorganisms 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 2700 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.

• plant stress tolerance
• plant-microbe interactions
• abiotic and biotic stress
• signaling molecules