Reviews, Perspectives, and Commentary in Fungi-Plant Interactions

Fungi-plant interactions is a central topic within plant and microbial science, shaping ecosystems, agricultural systems, and plant health worldwide. These diverse relationships include beneficial mutualisms, such as mycorrhizal associations that enhance plant nutrient uptake, as well as antagonistic encounters where fungal pathogens compromise crop productivity and threaten food security. Recent scientific advances have uncovered key molecular mechanisms governing these interactions, provided new insights into plant immune responses and fungal pathogenicity, and highlighted the impact of environmental factors in determining the outcomes of fungal-plant relationships. Despite this progress, significant gaps remain in our understanding, including how these interactions evolve over time, what drives shifts between mutualism and antagonism, and what broader impacts they may have under global environmental change. This Research Topic aims to provide a platform for critical analysis, synthesis, and forward-looking perspectives on all facets of fungi-plant interactions. We invite comprehensive reviews, thought-provoking perspectives, and commentaries that dissect current debates, highlight yet outstanding challenges, and set directions for future research. Our goal is to encourage contributions that rethink classic paradigms, propose integrative frameworks across molecular, ecological, and evolutionary scales, and assess the broader significance of these relationships for agriculture, conservation, and climate resilience. Focusing on review-type articles, this Research Topic encompasses the full spectrum of fungi-plant interactions, with an emphasis on conceptual advances and future research agendas. To deepen understanding in this field, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes: o Mechanisms of mutualism, parasitism, and commensalism between fungi and plants o Evolutionary history and diversification of fungal-plant associations o Plant immune responses and fungal strategies for colonization or evasion o Influence of environmental factors and plant-associated microbiomes on these interactions o Applications and implications for agriculture, forestry, and ecosystem functioning o Methodological and conceptual challenges in studying fungi-plant relationships This Research Topic welcomes Reviews, Perspective, and Commentary articles, and welcomes submissions covering various domains of fungal biology, aiming to enhance the understanding and current state of research in the complex relationships between Plants and Fungi. Topic editors: Raffaella Maria Balestrini, Massimo Reverberi, Fabiano Sillo Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/78099/reviews-perspectives-and-commentary-in-fungi-plant-interactions