Above-belowground interactions involving plants, microbes and insects

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Editorial

27 May 2015

Editorial: Above-belowground interactions involving plants, microbes and insects

Ana Pineda

,

Roxina Soler

,

Maria J. Pozo

,

Sergio Rasmann

and

Ted C. J. Turlings

8,720 views

38 citations

Editors

5

Ana Pineda

University of Alicante

Roxina Soler

Wageningen University and Research

Maria J. Pozo

Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)

Sergio Rasmann

Université de Neuchâtel

Ted C.J. Turlings

Université de Neuchâtel

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Plants interact simultaneously with multiple organisms above and belowground, and such interactions have been shown to shape the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems. Most studies on plant-mediated interactions have been focused on organisms that share a common domain, mainly aboveground. During the last decade, however, numerous ecological studies have revealed that the plant interactions with attackers or beneficial organisms belowground can strongly affect interactions aboveground and vice versa. Novel insights into the physiological mechanisms underlying induced plant responses have shown that responses to herbivorous insects and microbial pathogens, as well as to beneficial organisms such as root symbionts, are all regulated by a network of a relatively few signaling pathways that can cross the root-shoot divide. Additionally, most mechanistic studies mainly focus on responses to a single attacker aboveground or a root symbiont belowground. In the field, however, plants are constantly confronted with a complex community of foliar and soil dwelling attackers and beneficial organisms, and there is increasing interest to explore plant immune responses in this context. The integration of the mechanistic and ecological approaches to understanding plant-mediated interactions and their ecological consequences is developing as a novel field of research. With the proposed Research Topic we aim to highlight this emerging theme in the context of below-aboveground interactions between insects (herbivorous, carnivorous or pollinators) and other organisms (insects, beneficial microbes, pathogens). Manuscripts that deal with this topic are highly welcome.

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Editors

Ana Pineda

University of Alicante

Roxina Soler

Wageningen University and Research

Maria J. Pozo

Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)

Sergio Rasmann

Université de Neuchâtel

Ted C.J. Turlings

Université de Neuchâtel

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184,060 Total views

143,265 Article views

36,039 Article downloads

4,756 Topic views

Published In

Frontiers in Plant Science

Plant Pathogen Interactions

Frontiers in Microbiology

Plant Pathogen Interactions

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