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Plant Control of Symbiotic Microbe Behavior and Reproduction 2.0

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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue is the continuation of our previous Special Issue "Plant Control of Symbiotic Microbe Behavior and Reproduction".

Plants are hosts to numerous microbes (mutualists, pathogens and saprobes) on and within their tissues. It is becoming increasingly clear that these associations are not mere chance interactions between plants and microbes, but rather are functional interactions under host selection, control, and regulation. Host plants select microbes that they will permit to enter into their tissues, then they cultivate them, controlling their behaviors and regulating their numbers. Collaboration with microbes is one of the key ways that plants interface with the environment to obtain nutrients and defend themselves from biotic and abiotic stresses and plants rely on microbes to modulate plant development. Since intimate association with microbes that enter into plant tissues is "playing with fire" in the sense that microbes retain a parasitic capacity, the virulence and reproduction of endophytic microbes must be managed by the host plant. In this topic, we will explore the functions of microbes in plant tissues and the ways that plant hosts select and manage the microbes in their tissues.

Prof. Dr. James White
Prof. Dr. Miguel J. Beltrán-García
Prof. Dr. Paolo Di Mascio
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Microorganisms is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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17 pages, 3468 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Screening for Novel Beneficial Environmental Bacteria for an Antagonism-Based Erwinia amylovora Biological Control

by Guillermo Esteban-Herrero, Belén Álvarez, Ricardo D. Santander and Elena G. Biosca

Microorganisms 2023, 11(7), 1795; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms11071795 - 13 Jul 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1492

Abstract

Erwinia amylovora, the bacterial species responsible for fire blight, causes major economic losses in pome fruit crops worldwide. Chemical control is not always effective and poses a serious threat to the environment and human health. Social demands for eco-sustainable and safe control methods make it necessary to search for new biocontrol strategies such as those based on antagonists. A bacterial collection from different fire blight-free Mediterranean environments was tested for antagonistic activity against Spanish strains of E. amylovora. Antagonistic assays were carried out in vitro in culture medium and ex vivo in immature loquat and pear fruits. Results revealed that 12% of the 82 bacterial isolates tested were able to inhibit the growth of several strains of the pathogen. Some of the isolates also maintained their antagonistic activity even after chloroform inactivation. Selected isolates were further tested ex vivo, with several of them being able to delay and/or reduce fire blight symptom severity in both loquats and pears and having activity against some E. amylovora strains. The isolates showing the best antagonism also produced different hydrolases linked to biocontrol (protease, lipase, amylase, and/or DNAse) and were able to fix molecular nitrogen. Based on this additional characterization, four biocontrol strain candidates were further selected and identified using MALDI-TOF MS. Three of them were Gram-positive bacteria belonging to Bacillus and Paenarthrobacter genera, and the fourth was a Pseudomonas strain. Results provide promising prospects for an improvement in the biological control strategies against fire blight disease. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant Control of Symbiotic Microbe Behavior and Reproduction 2.0)

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Review

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15 pages, 2824 KiB

Open AccessReview

Plant Microbiome: An Ocean of Possibilities for Improving Disease Resistance in Plants

by Sajad Ali, Anshika Tyagi and Hanhong Bae

Microorganisms 2023, 11(2), 392; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms11020392 - 03 Feb 2023

Cited by 16 | Viewed by 5920

Abstract

Plant diseases pose a serious threat to crop production and the agricultural economy across the globe. Currently, chemical pesticides are frequently employed to combat these infections, which cause environmental toxicity and the emergence of resistant pathogens. Moreover, the genetic manipulation of plant defense pathways and the breeding of resistant genes has attained limited success due to the rapid evolution of pathogen virulence and resistance, together with host range expansion. Additionally, due to climate change and global warming, the occurrence of multiple stresses during disease outbreak has further impacted overall crop growth and productivity, posing a serious threat to food security. In this regard, harnessing the plant beneficial microbiome and its products can provide novel avenues for disease resistance in addition to boosting agricultural output, soil fertility and environmental sustainability. In plant–beneficial microbiome interactions, induced systemic resistance (ISR) has emerged as a key mechanism by which a beneficial microbiome primes the entire plant system for better defense against a wide range of phytopathogens and pests. In this review, we provide the recent developments on the role of plant beneficial microbiomes in disease resistance. We also highlight knowledge gaps and discuss how the plant immune system distinguishes pathogens and beneficial microbiota. Furthermore, we provide an overview on how immune signature hormones, such as salicylic acid (SA), jasmonic acid (JA) and ethylene (ET), shape plant beneficial microbiome. We also discuss the importance of various high-throughput tools and their integration with synthetic biology to design tailored microbial communities for disease resistance. Finally, we conclude by highlighting important themes that need future attention in order to fill the knowledge gaps regarding the plant immune system and plant-beneficial-microbiome-mediated disease resistance. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant Control of Symbiotic Microbe Behavior and Reproduction 2.0)

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