Plant Protection and Biotic Interactions

Almost all plants are affected by plant diseases, insects, mites, weeds, and other pest organisms. Plants also live in association with a diverse range of nonpathogenic microorganisms that can impact plant fitness. The Plant Protection and Biotic Interactions section aims to increase our knowledge of plant interactions with pathogenic, beneficial symbiotic and nonsymbiotic microorganisms, arthropod pests, and weed species. Research articles using interdisciplinary approaches to unravel complex mechanisms underlying plant interactions with other organisms or to study novel strategies for plant pest management are welcomed. Aside from these biological interaction areas, the section also focuses on disease and pest reports, diagnostics, and management, always taking into account the plant point of view. The section also welcomes papers on all aspects of plant pathology, entomology, and weed science, especially studies which show how these organisms affect the plant.

Keywords

• Plant–microbe interactions
• Plant pathogenic fungi, oomycota, bacteria, viruses
• Plant disease epidemiology
• Diagnosis of plant disease
• Plant parasitic nematology
• Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria
• Mycorrhizal fungi symbiosis
• Entomology
• Acarology
• Forest pathology
• Molecular plant–arthropod interactions
• Chemical ecology of plant–arthropod interactions
• Integrated pest management
• Soil-borne pathogens and arthropods
• Insect–plant–microbe interactions
• Insect vectors of plant diseases
• Weed science
• Weed ecology
• Plant microbiome
• Integrated weed management
• Plant protection chemicals
• Beneficial microbes
• Herbicide resistance
• Biological control
• Plant immunity
• Induced resistance
• Plant biotic stress
• Plant defenses
• Elicitors
• Impact of abiotic stress on plant–microbe interaction