Microbial Symbionts of Lower Plants

In nature, plants live in close association with a myriad of microorganisms, inhabiting their rhizosphere (narrow zone of soil around roots), phyllosphere (aerial parts of plants) and endosphere (within internal plant tissues). These microbial symbionts are either transmitted vertically via seeds/pollen grains or more commonly acquired from the environment (soil and air). The association of plants with certain symbiotic strains of bacteria and fungi enable them to thrive better under biotic and abiotic stress conditions. In the past few decades, the plant-microbe interaction and association has been quite extensively studied with respect to higher plants. However, it has not been reviewed to the same magnitude in lower plants, including algae, bryophytes and pteridophytes. Therefore, in the proposed special issue, an attempt has been made to not only unravel the microbial diversity associated with lower plants, but also explore the possibilities of their applications for the welfare of society.

The Research Topic aims to present a comprehensive and updated account of the microbiome of, otherwise neglected, lower plants. In spite of their miniscule size, the impact of microbiota on growth, performance and fitness of the plant is profound. Fossil evidences suggest that the symbiotic association of microbes with early land plants was instrumental in land colonization and establishment. Besides, an understanding of the rhizospheric, phyllospheric and endospheric microbes would open avenues for their application in agriculture, food and pharmaceutical industries. This issue would also shed light on the latest techniques for isolation, identification, localization and functional characterization of host-associated microbes. Furthermore, this would help researchers to systematically design and conduct experiments in a variety of disciplines, including microbiology, biotechnology, botany, pharmacy, and agriculture.

This topic is focused on, but not limited to, the following sub-topics pertaining to lower plants:

1. Diversity, nomenclature and classification of microbial symbionts.
2. Fossil records and evolutionary significance of plant-microbe association.
3. Ecological and functional roles of plant-microbe association.
4. Phyllospheric microbiome of algae, fungi, bryophytes and pteridophytes.
5. Endophytic microbiome of algae, fungi, bryophytes and pteridophytes.
6. Rhizospheric microbiome of algae, fungi, bryophytes and pteridophytes.
7. Secondary metabolites produced by microbial symbionts.
8. Omics analysis of microbial symbionts.
9. Microbial symbionts from medicinal plants.
10. Economic importance and industrial applications of microbial symbionts.
11. Recent advances in research on microbial symbionts of lower plants.

Keywords: Microorganisms, Non-Vascular Plants, Symbionts, Endophytes, Rhizospheric Microbes, Mycorrhizae, Mutualism, Economic Importance

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.