Editorial overview: Environmental microbiology: #PlantMicrobiome

Abstract

Plants associate with a multitude of microorganisms that collectively function as a microbiome. In accordance with the concept of ‘The Extended Phenotype’, we only appreciate the full functional capacity of a plant until we understand the fundamental significance of its associated microbes [1]. It has long been recognized that microbes can have marked impact by either improving or compromising plant performance [2, 3, 4]. Also the realization that these microbes function in a community has been appreciated for decades [5,6] as well as the framework of a microbiome being their ‘theatre of activities’ [7]. However, the advent of high-throughput sequencing a decade ago has fueled #PlantMicrobiome research and improved our understanding how plant-microbe interactions are affected by a complex of (a)biotic interactions. In recent years, plant microbiomes from numerous species have been described, but also in the plant microbiome field ‘this collection phase is coming to an end’ [8] and is moving to more hypothesis driven research, uncovering mechanistic principles that drive plant microbiome organization and functioning. In this special issue of Current Opinion in Microbiology, we present the state and the art of #PlantMicrobiome research. The issue provides current opinions on how the plant microbiome impacts the host with special emphasis on #PlantHealth, #PlantNutrition or resistance to #AbioticStress. Further topics concern the relevance of identifying a #CoreMicrobiome, the importance of #MultikingdomInteractions and the #Mycobiome in microbiome functioning and a review discusses reductionist #SynCom approaches for manipulative microbiota experiments. The issue also covers recent views on the communication between plants and associated microbes based on #RootExudates, the effects of #Domestication and the recent progress in microbial ecology of the #Phyllosphere. Finally, this issue provides frameworks for plant microbiome #Application in Agriculture and the control of #ParasiticWeeds. Below we introduce the individual contributions and highlight how these reviews and topics are interlinked.