Dear Colleagues,

Soil is inhabited by numerous fungal species which play different roles, sometimes known to us and sometimes research is needed to understand their position in the network of complicated interactions observed in a living soil. Some fungi have a negative impact on wild or cultivated plants. They occupy plant root systems and may subsequently invade upper plant parts, decreasing plant growth, yield and quality. Their role as a plant pathogen may be partially known but is yet to be fully discovered. On the other hand, there are numerous fungi with beneficial roles in plants. They may improve plant growth directly or indirectly by increasing soil health and quality via interactions with the other soil organisms. In this Special Issue, we would like to show the different roles of fungi present in soil in relation to plant growth and health. They can be good, bad or ugly. The main interest of this Special Issue focuses on the role of soil fungi for plant growth, both being pathogenic (decreasing plant growth, causing plant diseases) and beneficial (promoting plant growth in many ways, including mycorrhiza). New tools available in mycological studies enable the elucidation of the role of fungi in microbe–plant interactions (in our Special Issue we put fungi in the first place!). We are inviting manuscripts about soil fungi and their role in plant growth at the environmental, organismal, tissue, cell and molecular levels.

This Special Issue of the Journal of Fungi will present state-of-the-art reviews and research articles on the topic of Soil Fungi and Their Role in Plant Growth.

On this occasion, we would like to draw your attention to the Special Issue of Agronomy entitled "Crop Plants: Losses and Benefits Caused by Soil Fungi". This SI of Agronomy focuses on crop plants, and analyses plant–soil fungi interaction from the plant perspective, whereas the other SI in the JoF focuses on the activities of soil fungi.

Prof. Dr. Malgorzata Jedryczka
Prof. Dr. Magdalena Frąc
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Fungi is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• soil fungi
• fungi–plant interactions
• soil pathogenic fungi
• soil beneficial fungi
• mycorrhiza
• plant growth
• plant health