Understanding regulated cell death in plant immunity: From molecular mechanisms to evolutionary insights

Plants form a critical model for understanding regulated cell death (RCD) as part of their sophisticated immune responses. In the ongoing evolutionary arms race with their pathogens, plants have evolved a range of defense strategies in which programmed cell death (PCD) plays a central role. Recent advances in molecular genetics, live-cell imaging, single-cell and spatial omics, and structural biology have illuminated how immune receptors, signaling networks, organelles, and cell death machinery coordinate to shape these immune responses. However, much of the available mechanistic insight derives from a limited number of model species, leaving substantial questions regarding how RCD mechanisms vary or are conserved across the diverse range of plant lineages. Moreover, understanding the interface between plant and animal cell death pathways - including features such as membrane pores, ROS and Ca2+ fluxes, and the thresholds governing commitment - offers opportunities to extract principles of regulated versus accidental cell death that are relevant for all eukaryotes.

This Research Topic aims to advance fundamental and comparative understanding of RCD during plant immunity, explicitly contextualizing plant PCD within contemporary frameworks that span biological kingdoms. We seek to dissect the execution mechanisms, thresholds, and organelle coordination that underpin the onset and progression of immune-triggered cell death in plants, and to compare these processes to analogous systems in animals. By inviting work that bridges mechanistic details and evolutionary perspectives, we hope to identify both conserved strategies and unique plant-specific innovations. Through these efforts, the Research Topic aspires to clarify the regulatory logic of RCD, its impact on plant resilience and defense, and its translational potential for disease management and sustainable agriculture.

This Research Topic will consider a broad range of studies focused on RCD in plant immunity, while specifically excluding bibliometric and Mendelian randomization analyses in accordance with journal policy. We are particularly interested in research that expands conceptual and methodological horizons, as well as comparative/evolutionary works and cross-kingdom syntheses. To gather further insights in regulating, comparing, and leveraging cell death in plant systems, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:

• Mechanistic studies of regulated cell death pathways and effectors in diverse plant species

• Live-cell, single-cell, and spatial approaches to quantifying and mapping cell death

• Structural and biophysical dissection of plant death machinery (including pore formation, ROS/Ca2+ signaling, and membrane integrity)

• Comparative and cross-kingdom analyses exploring general, unique, and evolutionary aspects of RCD

• New models, methods, and resources/atlases to interrogate plant cell death at high resolution

• Translational advances in disease resistance, crop resilience, and biomimetic applications inspired by plant RCD

The following article types will be considered - mechanistic original research, methods and technology papers, cross-kingdom perspective and synthesis articles, data resources and atlases, and brief technology reports. Submissions should clearly articulate how findings advance fundamental understanding of cell death mechanisms and their regulation. Studies outside the scope, including bibliometric analyses and Mendelian randomization, will not be considered

Article types and fees

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

• Brief Research Report
• Clinical Trial
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• ... 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
• Clinical Trial
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Registered Report
• Review
• Study Protocol
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Plant immunity, PTI, SAR, Hypersensitive Response (HR), NLR, Priming, Plant-pathogen interactions, Defense responsive genes, Single cell/nuclei RNA-seq, Spatial RNA-seq, Omics integration, Regulated cell death (RCD), Programmed cell death (PCD), Immune-triggered cell death / hypersensitive response (HR), NLR immune receptors, Effector-triggered immunity (ETI), Reactive oxygen species (ROS) signaling, Calcium (Ca²⁺) influx and signaling, Membrane pore formation / cell death execution machinery, Single-cell and spatial omics (spatial transcriptomics), Comparative evolution / cross-kingdom cell death (plant–animal parallels)

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.