Fungal-Plant Interactions in a Changing Environment: From Mutualism to Pathogenesis

Fungal-plant interactions are central to life on land, shaping how ecosystems function by affecting nutrient cycles, plant growth, and disease. These relationships exist on a spectrum, ranging from beneficial partnerships, such as mycorrhizal fungi that help plants absorb nutrients, to harmful ones where fungi cause disease. However, the balance of these interactions is increasingly being thrown off by global environmental changes. Rising temperatures, shifting rainfall patterns, higher CO2 levels, and human activities such as deforestation and agriculture are altering the conditions in which these relationships have evolved. As a result, fungi that once helped plants are detrimental instead. This shift has serious consequences for plant health, biodiversity, and our ability to grow food. To respond effectively, we need to understand better how these changes play out at the ecological, molecular, and evolutionary levels and use that knowledge to guide more resilient and sustainable farming practices.

In an era of rapid climate and environmental change, the relationships between plants and fungi are being reshaped in ways we are only beginning to understand. This Research Topic seeks to explore the evolving nature of fungal-plant interactions, especially how once-mutualistic partnerships may shift toward pathogenicity under stress. We invite contributions that explore how climate change, pollution, land-use shifts, and other human-driven factors impact these delicate balances across both natural landscapes and agricultural fields. Our goal is to uncover the ecological and molecular processes underlying these transformations and understand their implications for plant health, soil quality, and broader ecosystem stability. We encourage studies that bring together diverse approaches ranging from field ecology and experimental physiology to genomics and systems modeling. Topics of particular interest include changes in mycorrhizal function under drought, the rise of fungal pathogens in stressed environments, and the cascading impacts on carbon and nitrogen cycles. By gathering insights from across the globe, this collection aims to map patterns, reveal mechanisms, and inspire new strategies for conservation, disease mitigation, and building resilient fungal-plant partnerships. Above all, we hope to spark deeper dialogue among researchers working at the interface of fungi, plants, and environmental change.

This Research Topic will address several interconnected and relevant themes, but not limited to:

• Environmental drivers of fungal-plant lifestyle shifts, such as temperature stress, elevated CO₂, drought, and pollution.

• Symbiotic and pathogenic relationships at the fungal-plant interface under environmental constraints

• Molecular and genomic signatures underlying the transition of fungi associated with plants from mutualism to pathogenesis.

• Functional responses of mycorrhizal associations to abiotic and biotic stressors across different ecosystems.

• Emergence and evolution of beneficial and opportunistic fungal pathogens in agroecosystems and natural habitats.

• Feedback between fungal-plant interactions and ecosystem functions, including nutrient cycling and carbon sequestration.

• Comparative studies across fungal taxa, shedding light on the plasticity and adaptability (including omics approaches) of fungal-plant symbioses under change.

• Innovative techniques and sustainable solutions, including omics-based diagnostics, CRISPR tools, microbial consortia design, and nature-based interventions for monitoring, predicting, and mitigating shifts in fungal-plant dynamics under environmental stress.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Classification
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Classification
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Review
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: plant, fungi, environment, symbiosis, mutualism, pathogenesis, mycorrhiza, host-pathogen, endophytes, plant-fungal interactions, climate change, environmental stress, soil, microbiome, plant health, abiotic stress

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.