SA
shirley a micallef
Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Maryland, College Park
College Park, United States
- Frontiers in Plant Science
- Plant Pathogen Interactions
- Research Topics
- Plant and Human Pathogen Interactions: Gaining Insights Into the Impact of Environmental and Crop Management Factors: Volume II
Plant and Human Pathogen Interactions: Gaining Insights Into the Impact of Environmental and Crop Management Factors: Volume II
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About this Research Topic
Manuscript Submission Deadline 30 April 2026
This Research Topic is currently accepting articles.
Background
This Research Topic is the second volume of the Plant and Human Pathogen Interactions: Gaining Insights Into the Impact of Environmental and Crop Management Factors series:
Globally, extraordinary effort is made every day to deliver sufficient, nutritious, and safe food to our plates. Unfortunately, during the complex farm-to-fork continuum food can be exposed to the contamination by human pathogens (e.g., bacteria, virus, protozoa), leading to recurring outbreaks that affect public health and the industry. Fresh produce is of special interest since there is no “kill step” to inactivate human pathogens during the preparation before consumption. Therefore, the microbiological safety of fruit and vegetables destined to raw intake relies in the application of several strategies comprising a holistic management approach.
The transfer of human pathogens from their natural reservoirs to produce can take place either in the field or during postharvest operations (i.e., transport, processing, storage, etc.). Sources of contamination include fecal matter from intruding animals harboring microbes, low microbiological-quality water, poorly treated manure, and inappropriate hygiene of workers. Outbreak investigations and quantitative risk assessments have revealed that field incidents are the major cause of contamination and that inadequate postharvest practices might provoke the issue to spread significantly. Field production of fruit and vegetables occur under the combination of several environmental conditions and involves multiple agronomic practices. Understanding how environmental and crop management factors (or the interaction between them) affect the contamination of fresh produce by human pathogens is a valuable tool to provide scientific-based preventive recommendations.
This Research Topic seeks to gain and exhibit in a comprehensive manner further knowledge regarding the impact of environmental and crop management factors in the contamination of produce by human pathogens. We expect that the studies gathered here contribute to the long-term improvement of fresh produce growing practices to reduce or prevent pathogen contamination.
Specific themes that are of relevance for the topic are:
- Environmental factors including temperature, relative humidity, radiation, soil, nutrients, microbiome, atmospheric gases, etc.
- Crop management factors including genotype selection, rotation, tillage, irrigation, fertilization, harvest techniques, etc.
- Interactions between environmental and crop management factors.
Authors are welcomed to submit all types of articles, including original research, reviews, and methods.
Article types and fees
This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:
- Brief Research Report
- Editorial
- FAIR² Data
- FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
- Hypothesis and Theory
- Methods
- Mini Review
- Opinion
- Original Research
Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.
Keywords: plant, pathogens, crop management, environment, temperature, humidity, soil, nutrients, genotype, atmospheric gases
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.
Topic editors
Topic coordinators
Published in
Frontiers in Plant Science
Plant Pathogen Interactions
Other participating journals
Frontiers in Microbiology
- 4.5 impact factor
- 8.5 citescore
Manuscripts can be submitted to this Research Topic via the main journal or any other participating journal.
Submit your idea
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