The Role of Beneficial Microbes in the Control of Plant Diseases

Dear Colleagues, 

The journal Plants is delighted to introduce the Special Issue “The Role of Beneficial Microbes in the Control of Plant Diseases”. We are now facing an unprecedented and historical moment, in which governments and research groups around the world are focused on identifying how to make agricultural practices less aggressive and more sustainable. Due to the complexity of agriculture, pluridisciplinary approaches are much more likely to be successful, especially considering the global context of the changes needed. Most environmental concerns regard the overuse of chemicals for the control of crop diseases. While recent chemical research has provided us with less harmful compounds, complementary therapeutics is needed to more efficiently satisfy ecological, public health, and environmental concerns. Beneficial microbes are known to co-exist with plants, and extensive research in the field provides us with more knowledge around their multifaceted beneficial contribution to plant health. Antagonism, plant growth promotion or induction of the plant immune system are some of the proposed mechanisms employed to fight crop diseases. However, despite the vast amount of knowledge that has been accumulated over the years regarding these eclectic microbial modes of action, more information is needed around the ecology of these microbes, or how they communicate with plants and other microbe residents on the host. In this Special Issue, we call for manuscripts that deal with this fascinating field of research, specifically outstanding findings including but not limited to: the chemistry behind direct antagonism or the induction of host immune system; molecular aspects of the regulation of metabolite production on plants or during interaction with other microbes; interspecies interactions and biofilm formation in beneficial interaction contribution to plants; plant responses to the presence of beneficial microbes; ecological modeling of microbe–plant interactions for decision making. Other research related to the field is also welcome.

Prof. Dr. Diego F. Romero Hinojosa
Guest Editor

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