Plant–Microbe Interactions: Mechanisms, Applications, and Future Directions

Abstract

Plant–microbe interactions (PMIs) are fundamental to plant health and ecosystem functioning. Plants host complex microbial communities across the rhizosphere, endosphere, and phyllo sphere that affect nutrient acquisition, stress tolerance, and immunity [1–3]. Recent advances in omics, synthetic community studies, and imaging have accelerated our mechanistic understanding and translation into agriculture [4–6]. This review synthesizes current knowledge of PMI mechanisms, microbial community assembly, immune responses, and applications in biocontrol, biofertilization, and phytoremediation. We highlight key technologies (metagenomics, metabolomics, genome editing) and propose research priorities for predictive microbiome engineering [7,8].