Emerging Plant Diseases: From Molecular Mechanisms to Early Diagnostics

Plant–pathogen interactions are being reshaped by two converging global drivers: a changing climate and intensifying international trade. Together, they accelerate the emergence and re-emergence of plant diseases and pests, move organisms across biogeographic borders, and disrupt long-established host–pathogen relationships. These shifts raise pressing mechanistic questions about how plants adapt their immune responses, how pathogens evolve virulence and overcome defenses, and how novel pathosystems assemble under new climatic and ecological conditions. Recent work has begun to reveal how environmental variation modulates immune signaling, effector–receptor compatibility, and nutrient exchanges, and how genetic and epigenetic mechanisms enable rapid pathogen adaptation. Yet major gaps remain in linking these mechanistic insights to the early molecular cues that could underpin proactive, surveillance-ready diagnostics for biosecurity and crop protection.This Research Topic aims to deepen mechanistic understanding of how climatic change and trade-driven pathogen movement are redefining the molecular dialogue between plants and their attackers, with a clear focus on emerging and re-emerging pathosystems. Its distinctive aim is to bridge these mechanistic discoveries with the development of surveillance-ready diagnostic approaches — translating early molecular cues into tools that support biosecurity, border interception, and proactive disease management. By integrating molecular biology, evolutionary ecology, biosecurity science, and technological innovation, the topic seeks to clarify how environmental and genetic factors shape host adaptation, pathogen strategies, and the assembly of novel pathosystems, and to inspire diagnostic platforms grounded in these mechanisms. The collection will help define how mechanistic plant pathology can underpin crop protection strategies that are robust to environmental uncertainty, aligned with global sustainability goals, and operationally relevant for surveillance networks responding to climate- and trade-driven plant health threats.The scope encompasses mechanistic investigations at the molecular, cellular, and ecological interfaces of emerging or re-emerging pathosystems, with explicit priority given to studies that translate basic knowledge toward surveillance-ready diagnostic applications or biosecurity-relevant insights. Studies focusing solely on agronomic outcomes, or on well-established pathosystems without an emerging-disease, environmental-change, or diagnostic-translation angle, fall outside this scope. We welcome contributions addressing, but not limited to, the following themes: · Molecular impacts of temperature and environmental variation on emerging plant–pathogen interactions · Immune signaling, effector–receptor dynamics, and nutrient exchange in novel or shifting pathosystems · Genetic and epigenetic adaptations underlying host jumps and pathogen range expansions · Multitrophic interactions shaping emerging or re-emerging disease systems · Climate- and trade-driven biosecurity threats and the molecular basis of pathogen establishment · Early biomarkers and mechanism-based surveillance-ready diagnostic development · Integrative evolutionary, ecological, and technological approaches to proactive plant health-------We welcome contributions from researchers across the field, and we are glad to support you as you prepare your submission. If you would like early feedback on whether your planned manuscript fits the scope of this Research Topic, please write to us at plantscience@frontiersin.org before submitting. A quick check at this stage helps confirm your work is a strong fit and can save you time later in the process.To take part, click “Participate in this topic” at the top right of this page, then confirm through the “Participate” link in the follow-up email. This lets us know to expect your contribution, keeps you informed of key deadlines, and gives you access to resources that guide you through submission. We would also be glad to talk with you about possible routes for support with the Article Processing Charge (APC).We look forward to your participation and to building a vibrant, cohesive Research Topic together. Topic editors: Lamiaa M Mahmoud, Nabil Killiny, Francine Ishikawa Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/81900/emerging-plant-diseases-from-molecular-mechanisms-to-early-diagnostics