Plant–Microbe Interactions: Unlocking Adaptive Strategies for Nutrient Efficiency and Stress Resilience

Dear Colleagues,

Plant–microbe interactions play a fundamental role in enhancing nutrient uptake, improving soil fertility, and increasing plant resilience to environmental stresses. Beneficial microbes, including arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), Trichoderma, rhizobia, and plant-growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR), influence root development, rhizosphere chemistry, and plant defence mechanisms, particularly under nutrient-deficient and stress-prone conditions. This Special Issue aims to explore how microbial associations help plants adapt to both abiotic and biotic stressors, such as drought, salinity, heavy metal toxicity, temperature fluctuations, and plant diseases, etc., and also aims to highlight research on the molecular mechanisms underlying plant–microbe interactions, including microbial signalling, root exudate-mediated communication, and gene expression regulation.

We invite the original research and review articles focusing on mechanistic insights, molecular signalling, microbial consortia, and rhizosphere interactions. Additionally, studies incorporating omics technologies, biotechnological applications, and field-based strategies for sustainable agriculture are encouraged.

Dr. Hafiz Athar Hussain
Dr. Daofeng Liu
Guest Editors

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