Dear Colleagues,

Plants are attacked by a variety of pathogen species occurring in highly complex communities, including a diversity of other non-pathogenic organisms. There has been pioneering work demonstrating that the presence of two or more pathogens on the same host can result in significantly different disease outcomes as compared to single infections. It has also been reported that non-pathogenic microorganisms naturally inhabiting the plant phyllosphere or the rhizosphere can have protective effects against pathogens. Pathobiomes can be defined as a group of co-occurring pathogens that influence each other and the plant immune response. They are formed by pathogens occupying the same ecological niche and either competing or cooperating for the same plant resources. Understanding the evolutionary, genetic, and molecular basis of such interactions could lead to the discovery of hidden layers controlling pathogen virulence and plant immunity. This Special Issue of Plants will highlight the contribution of pathogen–pathogen interactions and microbial communities to plant–pathogen interactions and explore new strategies for plant protection based on this knowledge.

Dr. Salim Bourras
Prof. Andrea Sánchez Vallet
Prof. Dan Funck Jensen
Guest Editors

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• pathobiomes
• pathogen–pathogen interactions
• plant–pathogen interactions
• plant immunity
• microbial communities
• biological control