Plant–Microbe Interactions for Sustainable Agriculture: From Rhizosphere Ecology to Crop Resilience

A Special Issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747) belonging to the section "Plant Protection and Biotic Interactions".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 28 February 2027 | Viewed by 202

Editor


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. College of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410128, China
2. Yuelushan Laboratory, Changsha 410128, China
Interests: plant–microbe interactions; endophytic bacteria; heavy metal stress; abiotic/biotic stress physiology; phytoremediation; rhizosphere microbiome

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Sustainable agricultural development is increasingly challenged by global climate change, soil degradation, frequent biotic and abiotic stresses, and declining crop productivity worldwide. Plant–microbe interactions serve as the core link connecting rhizosphere ecological processes, crop growth regulation, and farmland ecosystem stability, playing an irreplaceable role in improving soil health, optimizing nutrient cycling, suppressing pathogens, and enhancing crop stress tolerance and yield potential. Rapid advances in modern ecological sequencing, molecular biology, microbial omics, and synthetic biology technologies have profoundly decoded the complex interactive mechanisms between plants and rhizosphere/endophytic microorganisms, clarified the regulatory rules of microbial community assembly, host–microbe signal communication, and functional metabolite exchange. These innovative breakthroughs not only deepen our systematic understanding of the synergistic adaptation between crops and microbial communities under complex agricultural environments, but also lay a solid theoretical foundation for the precise regulation of rhizosphere microecology and the development of green agricultural technologies. By dissecting the dynamic changes in microbial communities, the molecular interaction networks of plant–microbe crosstalk, the functional mechanisms of beneficial microbial inoculants, and the ecological regulation pathways of disease and stress resistance, in-depth exploration of plant–microbe interaction mechanisms provides feasible technical solutions for building healthy farmland ecosystems, reducing chemical fertilizer and pesticide inputs, improving crop resilience, and ultimately realizing high-efficiency, low-carbon and sustainable modern agriculture.

We welcome contributions that explore diverse dimensions of plant–microbe interactions in sustainable agricultural systems. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Rhizosphere microbial community assembly and ecological succession under agricultural environments;
  • Molecular mechanisms of plant–microbe crosstalk in response to biotic and abiotic stresses;
  • Endophytic and rhizosphere beneficial microbes for crop growth promotion and stress resistance;
  • Omics and multi-omics integrated analysis of plant–microbe interaction systems;
  • Field application and efficacy evaluation of microbial fertilizers and biocontrol agents;
  • Novel technologies and genetic manipulation for optimizing plant–microbe beneficial interactions.

Dr. Yunhua Xiao
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • plant–microbe interaction
  • rhizosphere ecology
  • microbial community
  • crop resilience
  • sustainable agriculture
  • soil health
  • biotic stress
  • abiotic stress
  • microbial biocontrol
  • multi-omics
  • microbial inoculants

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