Stress Biology - Call for Papers --- Special Issue "Molecular dynamics of plant-pathogen interactions"

Plants and pathogens are in a constant arms race to coexist or compete for survival in nature. To survive and propagate, plants have developed sophisticated and multi-layered immune systems to defend themselves upon perception of pathogens including bacteria, fungi, viruses and other microorganisms that infect plants and cause diseases. Pathogenic microbes have evolved a wide range of strategies to subvert host defense responses and promote their proliferation. Understanding the mechanisms underlying pathogen adaptation and plant defense responses is critical in ensuring global food security and maintaining the ecological balance in the natural environment. With the rapid development of new biotechnological approaches such as genome editing, single-cell sequencing and cryo-electron microscopy, great progress has been achieved in understanding of the plant-pathogen interactions over the past decades.

This special issue aims to publish studies focusing on the recent advances in molecular aspects of plant-pathogen interactions. Topics include but not limited to:

1) strategies used by pathogens evading or subverting host defenses,

2) molecular mechanisms underlying multi-level defense against pathogens from model plants to crops, and

3) exploration of environmental impacts on plant-microbe interactions for sustainable agriculture.

Original research papers, review articles and short communications can be submitted to the special issue. Publication fee will be waived for all accepted articles. The journal follows the peer review policy (this opens in a new tab) of Stress Biology for all the special issue submissions.

Guest editor: 

Dr. Yuese Ning, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China

E-mail: ningyuese@caas.cn (this opens in a new tab)

Co-guest editor: 

Dr. Hailong Guo, Department of Plant Pathology, China Agricultural University, China

E-mail: hailongguo@cau.edu.cn (this opens in a new tab)

Dr. Baoye He, Department of Microbiology and plant pathology, University of California, Riverside, USA

e-mail: baoye@ucr.edu (this opens in a new tab)

Submission deadline: 30 August 2024