In the field of plant sciences, it's widely recognized that plants are continually subjected to a mix of abiotic factors like drought, heat, and salinity, along with biotic pressures from pathogens, pests, and beneficial microorganisms. These multifaceted stressors significantly impact plant health, productivity, and adaptive responses. Despite substantial progress from single-stress research, there remains a pressing need to delve into the complexities of multiple stress types concurrently to fully understand the sophisticated mechanisms plants deploy to withstand such challenges. Recent studies highlight the intricate molecular and signaling networks plants leverage, yet a comprehensive understanding of their interaction with ecological factors like microbiomes remains sparse.

This Research Topic aims to dissect and illuminate the ways in which plants manage, signal, and communicate across molecular, cellular, and ecological levels amidst compounded abiotic and biotic stresses. The central goal is to shed light on the innovative methodologies and expansive integrative studies that focus on signaling networks, molecular dialogue, and the ecological role of microorganisms under these dual stress conditions. We seek to further unravel these complex interactions to augment plant resistance and adaptation strategies in a world where environmental fluctuations are becoming increasingly erratic.

To gather further insights into this multifaceted field, we welcome articles that address, but are not limited to, the following themes:

• Signaling cascades and pathway crosstalk under multiple stress conditions
• Epigenetic modification and stress-memory to combined stressors
• Single-cell and multi-omics perspectives on plant stress responses
• Role of microbiomes in modulating plant performance under combined stress
• Bioinformatic models and computational tools for prediction of multiple-stress outcomes
• Molecular genetics, including gene editing for combined biotic and abiotic stress tolerance
• Systems biology approaches to understanding plant responses to complex stress interactions
• Innovative strategies for enhancing crop resilience toward combined stress factors, with a focus outside of physiological studies

This Research Topic specifically emphasizes the molecular, signaling, and microbiome-level interactions that occur when plants face combined abiotic and biotic stressors. We encourage submissions that explore cross-talk between signaling pathways, microbiome-mediated modulation, and systems-level responses.

Are you interested in contributing a manuscript to this Research Topic?

Unraveling Plant Stress Complexity: Interactions and Communication in Molecular, Signaling, and Microbiome Networks Under Multiple Stressors