Plant and Fungal Interactions, 3rd Edition

Dear Colleagues,

Throughout their existence on Earth, plants and fungi have been closely associated. Plant–fungal interactions span a vast continuum from beneficial to detrimental and play a major role in natural and agricultural ecosystems. Beneficial or mutualistic plant-colonising fungi are widely distributed and provide benefits to plants by supplying nutrients and increasing plant stress tolerance or disease resistance. This is the case for mycorrhizal fungi, a group of diverse fungal taxa, which associate with roots of about 90% of all plant species and provide plants with mineral nutrients in exchange for fixed carbon. By contrast, plant pathogenic fungi are a major threat to crop production and food security. To fight these detrimental interactions, plants have evolved an array of defence mechanisms. Research on the mechanisms underlying both types of interactions and the subtle differences that determine the different outcomes has become one of the most interesting fields in plant sciences. The findings of these studies can be exploited to optimize beneficial interactions and to develop new plant protection strategies. This Special Issue is aimed at compiling research, review, and opinion articles covering new scientific discoveries in mutualistic and pathogenic plant-fungal interactions. Articles covering new insights into the physiology, biochemistry, molecular biology, genetics, and ecology of the fungal partner, the molecular mechanisms involved in plant-fungal interaction, and the effect of the interaction on plant fitness under different environmental conditions and in biotechnological applications are welcomed.

Dr. Nuria Ferrol
Guest Editor

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.