Plant-Associated Microbiota: From the Assembly to the Function

Dear Colleagues,

Like all the other living organisms, plants also possess their own microbiota. The plant-associated microbial communities are diverse depending on the plant type/genotype, the considered district (phyllosphere, carposphere, rhizosphere…), and are also influenced by the plant developmental stage. In addition, the whole plant-microbiota holobiont is exposed to a plethora of environmental factors, both of natural and anthropic origin. Scientific advances in this study field have started to demonstrate that plants can actively shape their associated microbial communities, and the other way around. Plants can in fact influence the presence and the activity of rhizosphere-inhabiting microorganisms under specific environmental conditions. In turn, some microbiota members display important plant-growth promoting traits, influencing plant physiological functions and eventually improving plant nutrition, yield and performance. Given the importance of plant–microbe interactions for plant growth and protection against stresses, there is a need for a deeper knowledge of the mechanisms underlying these associations. This is crucial from an ecological and agronomical point of view, since it will lead towards a better exploitation of the plant microbiota to increase plants/crops performance and to improve their resilience under the current global climate change scenario. Within this Topic we aim to collect contributions that analyse plant-microbiota associations under functional aspects of agronomical and/or ecological relevance. We encourage the submission of research papers and reviews dealing with all the aspects related with plant-microbe interactions, from those aimed at elucidating the mechanisms of functioning and/or the resulting beneficial effect, to those focused on formulation/application of microbial biostimulants to crop plants.

Dr. Alessandra Salvioli Di Fossalunga
Dr. Vincenza Cozzolino
Topic Editors