Origin, Evolution and Functional Mechanisms of Plant Immune System
A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Protection and Biotic Interactions".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2024 | Viewed by 332
Special Issue Editors
Interests: plant immunity system; plant–microbe interactions; plant immune receptor
Interests: the transition of plants from aquatic to terrestrial environment; the origin and early diversification of angiosperms; plant-pathogen interactions
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
We are delighted to announce a Special Issue of Plants dedicated to exploring the origin, evolution, functional role and regulatory mechanisms of the plant immune system.
Throughout their life cycle and evolutionary history, plants are consistently exposed to complex and evolving microbial communities. To defend against invading pathogens, plants have evolved a sophisticated two-layered immune system known as pathogen-associated molecular pattern-triggered immunity (PTI) and effector-triggered immunity (ETI). PTI relies on cell surface receptors encoded by the receptor-like kinase (RLK) family or receptor-like protein (RLP) family genes, while ETI involves the recognition of pathogen effectors by intracellular nucleotide-binding site leucine-rich repeat (NLR or NBS-LRR) family genes. Genes encoding these cell surface and intracellular immune receptors, along with a few other proteins involved in pathogen detection, collectively form plant disease resistance genes (R genes).
Over the past three decades, significant progress has been made in cloning novel R genes against diverse pathogens and understanding the mechanisms of R protein activation and signaling. Over 300 plant disease genes have been cloned from various model plants and crops, and the activation mechanisms of several representative R genes from the RLK/RLP and NLR families have been elucidated. The key signaling modules for PTI, ETI and their crosstalk have been identified, leading to successful applications and manipulations of R genes for crop disease resistance breeding. However, there is still an urgent need for the identification and artificial design of novel R genes against notorious crop pathogens. Additionally, knowledge gaps persist between model plants that are overwhelmingly from angiosperms and non-model plants from diverse lineages regarding the mechanisms of R gene function and signaling. Furthermore, the epigenetic and epitranscriptomic regulation of R genes remains poorly understood.
This Special Issue aims to bring together cutting-edge research and insights into the fascinating world of the plant immune system. We invite contributions covering a wide range of topics, including, but not limited to:
- Genetic mapping of novel R gene loci in crops;
- Functional characterization of immune-related genes;
- Evolution of immune-related genes;
- Application of omics approaches to study plant immunity;
- Co-evolutionary dynamics between plants and pathogens;
- Role of plant hormones and signaling pathways in immunity;
- Engineering plant immunity for enhanced disease resistance.
We welcome original research articles, perspectives, opinions, reviews and methodological papers that contribute to our understanding of plant immune systems from diverse perspectives and methodologies. This Special Issue provides an excellent opportunity to showcase groundbreaking research and foster interdisciplinary collaborations in the field of plant biology. We invite researchers from around the world to contribute their latest findings and insights to this exciting endeavor.
Dr. Zhu-Qing Shao
Dr. Jia-Yu Xue
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. Plants is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2700 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.
Keywords
- plant immune system
- plant immune receptors
- plant disease resistance genes
- evolutionary genetics
- plant–pathogen interactions
- genetic mapping
- comparative genomics
- plant immune signaling pathway
- plant immune system engineering
