Beneficial Microorganisms and Their Metabolites for Crop Resilience Against Biotic and Abiotic Stresses

Beneficial microorganisms, including plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria, endophytic fungi and bacteria, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, and microbial biocontrol agents, depend on tightly regulated metabolic pathways and physiological adaptations to respond to environmental challenges. Their ability to produce siderophores, phytohormones, antimicrobial compounds, volatile organic compounds, and other secondary metabolites can influence microbial fitness, antagonistic activity, and interactions with plants. However, the regulation of these processes under stress remains incompletely understood. Current research is increasingly combining comparative genomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics, systems biology, and functional approaches to identify microbial determinants of stress adaptation and beneficial activity. Further investigation is needed to connect microbial genes, metabolic pathways, regulatory networks, and metabolite production with robust plant-protective outcomes under realistic environmental conditions.This Research Topic aims to advance mechanistic knowledge of how beneficial microorganisms regulate their metabolism, physiology, and cellular functions when exposed to biotic and abiotic stressors. It will address how microbial biosynthetic pathways are controlled, how metabolites and regulators contribute to antagonistic or plant-beneficial activities, and how microbial stress responses influence crop performance. Studies should prioritize the microorganism as the primary object of investigation, while plant growth, stress tolerance, disease suppression, or field performance may be considered as functional outcomes. Comparative and integrative studies are particularly encouraged, as are hypotheses-driven investigations identifying new metabolites, regulatory mechanisms, or microbial traits relevant to sustainable crop production.To gather further insights into the metabolic regulation, physiological adaptation, and functional activity of beneficial microorganisms under biotic and abiotic stress, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:• Biosynthesis, regulation, and functional characterization of microbial secondary metabolites• Siderophore production, iron acquisition, and metal homeostasis• Microbial phytohormone and signalling-molecule biosynthesis• Antimicrobial compounds and molecular mechanisms of microbial antagonism• Volatile organic compounds and other microbial mediators of plant-beneficial activity• Comparative genomics of stress-tolerant and stress-sensitive beneficial microorganisms• Microbial responses to drought, salinity, temperature extremes, nutrient limitation, and heavy-metal stress• Energy metabolism, redox regulation, oxidative-stress responses, and cellular homeostasis• Transcriptomic, proteomic, metabolomic, and systems-biology approaches to microbial stress responses• Metabolic engineering and functional improvement of beneficial microorganisms• Mechanisms of biocontrol, including antibiosis, mycoparasitism, competition, and induced systemic resistance• Validation of microbial traits and metabolites in planta, greenhouse, postharvest, or field systems• Artificial intelligence and omics technology for improved agrcicultureStudies focused primarily on the design of synthetic microbial consortia or phytobiome-scale community engineering are outside the scope of this Research Topic. Topic editors: AJAY KUMAR, Dr. Monika Singh, Gustavo Santoyo, Laurent Dufossé Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/85463/beneficial-microorganisms-and-their-metabolites-for-crop-resilience-against-biotic-and-abiotic-stresses