Harnessing Rhizosphere Microbiomes to Fortify Cereal Resilience and Sustainability

Cereal crops, such as wheat, rice, maize, barley, sorghum, and millets, face escalating abiotic stresses (drought, salinity, alkalinity, nutrient deficiencies, heat and cold) and biotic pressures (pathogens, pests) that threaten yield stability and grain quality under climate change. Cereals actively shape their rhizosphere microbiome communities via root exudates and signaling molecules, recruiting beneficial microbes that influence stress perception, signaling, and tolerance. Emerging evidence shows that these beneficial microbial partners can enhance water and nutrient use efficiency, modulate hormonal and redox pathways, and prime immune responses, yet the mechanistic crosstalk between cereal molecular networks and microbiome-mediated stress tolerance remains incompletely resolved.This Research Topic focuses on the ecological, physiological, and molecular bases of cereal-microbiome interactions under biotic and abiotic stresses, emphasizing translational opportunities for sustainable grain production. We aim to uncover how cereal roots recruit and rearrange functional microbial communities; identify keystone taxa across cereal species and environmental stress conditions; and map the plant genes, metabolites, and signaling networks that mediate these partnerships and confer stress tolerance. By integrating multi-omics, genetics, and systems biology with microbiome engineering and breeding approaches, this Topic seeks to bridge fundamental insights for field-ready interventions that yield stability and grain quality across diverse cereal systems and environmental challenges.We welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:- Mechanistic regulation of interactions between cereal and beneficial microbiome in plant health, stress resilience, and yield/quality stability- Roles of cereal root exudates (e.g., benzoxazinoids, phenolics, sugars, amino acids) in shaping rhizosphere communities and enhancing tolerance- Cereal genes and molecular pathways mediating microbiome recruitment and interaction (e.g., hormone signaling, immunity, nutrient signaling, exudation regulators)- Chemical and signaling communications between cereal roots and rhizosphere microbes in drought, salinity/alkalinity, temperature extremes, nutrient limitations, and pathogen pressure- Identification of keystone microbial taxa and stress-driven community shifts across diverse cereals- Application of molecular genetics, multi-omics, synthetic communities, and gene editing to strengthen cereal stress tolerance via plant–microbiome leverage- Microbiome-based agronomic practices (e.g., bioinoculants, biostimulants, cover crops), molecular breeding, and rhizosphere interventions for developing resilient, low-input cereal production systems Topic editors: Dapu Liu, Zhihua Zhang, Ryosuke TAJIMA Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/76913/harnessing-rhizosphere-microbiomes-to-fortify-cereal-resilience-and-sustainability