Metabolomics attempts to measure the unique chemical fingerprints and small-molecule substrates, commonly known as metabolites, intermediates, and products within a specific tissue or fluid at a specific point in time to better understand the plant responses to various biotic and abiotic stressors. Recently, metabolomic approaches became a key tool for understanding how plant metabolism is exaggerated by phytopathogens and pest attacks. We believe that the metabolic changes during the plant-pathogen interactions may result from host cellular functions for defense reactions, or they may result from the manipulation of metabolic pathways by different phytopathogens for their benefit to fulfill their nutritional needs, or to induce symptoms development.
We believe that host plants depend on multi-layered defense responses to mediate the effect of the pathogen infection. These defense mechanisms include the accumulation of defense molecules such as antioxidants and stress-responsive proteins, alteration of plant signaling system, and changes in primary and secondary metabolites. Large-scale metabolomic analysis of different plant species under biotic stress generally, and pathogen infection particularly, revealed that pathogen infection altered the abundances of several primary metabolites such as TCA cycle, carboxylic compounds (amino acids, organic acids, and fatty acids), glycolysis, pentose phosphate, and shikimate pathways, as well as secondary metabolites such as terpenoid/isoprenoid, phenolic compounds, and nitrogen/sulfur-containing compounds. These metabolic changes could be implicated directly or indirectly in host-pathogen interactions.
On the other hand, phytopathogens themselves may employ several metabolites to be used as virulence factors or to interfere with host immunity. In this context, a better understanding of metabolic reprogramming and a comprehensive perspective of how metabolic networks are regulated during the host-pathogen interaction is necessary to elucidate the complex interactions between the plant and phytopathogenic microbes.
In this research topic, we welcome original research articles, perspectives, hypotheses, opinions, and reviews that focus on host-pathogen interactions at the metabolic level. The contributions can be on all Metabolic-based interactions between host plant and phytopathogenic microbes, for example, but not limited to, the following areas:
- Metabolic-based pathogen effectors/virulence factors host-pathogen interactions: from genome to metabolome
- Role(s) of primary and/or secondary metabolites in host-pathogen interactions
- Role(s) of nonproteinogenic amino acids in host-pathogen interactions
- Sugar allocation during host-pathogen interactions
- Phytohormones-based host-pathogen interactions
- Plant metabolic adaptation to defense
- Metabolic networking during host-pathogen interactions
Metabolomics attempts to measure the unique chemical fingerprints and small-molecule substrates, commonly known as metabolites, intermediates, and products within a specific tissue or fluid at a specific point in time to better understand the plant responses to various biotic and abiotic stressors. Recently, metabolomic approaches became a key tool for understanding how plant metabolism is exaggerated by phytopathogens and pest attacks. We believe that the metabolic changes during the plant-pathogen interactions may result from host cellular functions for defense reactions, or they may result from the manipulation of metabolic pathways by different phytopathogens for their benefit to fulfill their nutritional needs, or to induce symptoms development.
We believe that host plants depend on multi-layered defense responses to mediate the effect of the pathogen infection. These defense mechanisms include the accumulation of defense molecules such as antioxidants and stress-responsive proteins, alteration of plant signaling system, and changes in primary and secondary metabolites. Large-scale metabolomic analysis of different plant species under biotic stress generally, and pathogen infection particularly, revealed that pathogen infection altered the abundances of several primary metabolites such as TCA cycle, carboxylic compounds (amino acids, organic acids, and fatty acids), glycolysis, pentose phosphate, and shikimate pathways, as well as secondary metabolites such as terpenoid/isoprenoid, phenolic compounds, and nitrogen/sulfur-containing compounds. These metabolic changes could be implicated directly or indirectly in host-pathogen interactions.
On the other hand, phytopathogens themselves may employ several metabolites to be used as virulence factors or to interfere with host immunity. In this context, a better understanding of metabolic reprogramming and a comprehensive perspective of how metabolic networks are regulated during the host-pathogen interaction is necessary to elucidate the complex interactions between the plant and phytopathogenic microbes.
In this research topic, we welcome original research articles, perspectives, hypotheses, opinions, and reviews that focus on host-pathogen interactions at the metabolic level. The contributions can be on all Metabolic-based interactions between host plant and phytopathogenic microbes, for example, but not limited to, the following areas:
- Metabolic-based pathogen effectors/virulence factors host-pathogen interactions: from genome to metabolome
- Role(s) of primary and/or secondary metabolites in host-pathogen interactions
- Role(s) of nonproteinogenic amino acids in host-pathogen interactions
- Sugar allocation during host-pathogen interactions
- Phytohormones-based host-pathogen interactions
- Plant metabolic adaptation to defense
- Metabolic networking during host-pathogen interactions
