title: Friends or foes? Emerging insights from fungal interactions with plants.
abstract: Fungi interact with plants in various ways, with each interaction giving rise to different alterations in both partners. While fungal pathogens have detrimental effects on plant physiology, mutualistic fungi augment host defence responses to pathogens and/or improve plant nutrient uptake. Tropic growth towards plant roots or stomata, mediated by chemical and topographical signals, has been described for several fungi, with evidence of species-specific signals and sensing mechanisms. Fungal partners secrete bioactive molecules such as small peptide effectors, enzymes and secondary metabolites which facilitate colonization and contribute to both symbiotic and pathogenic relationships. There has been tremendous advancement in fungal molecular biology, omics sciences and microscopy in recent years, opening up new possibilities for the identification of key molecular mechanisms in plant-fungal interactions, the power of which is often borne out in their combination. Our fragmentary knowledge on the interactions between plants and fungi must be made whole to understand the potential of fungi in preventing plant diseases, improving plant productivity and understanding ecosystem stability. Here, we review innovative methods and the associated new insights into plant-fungal interactions.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Microbiology, University of Innsbruck, Technikerstrasse 25, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria.
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zeilinger
authors.affiliation: Molecular Glycobiotechnology Group, Discipline of Biochemistry, School of Natural Sciences, National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Ireland vijaifzd@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Vijai K
authors.initials: VK
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Regina, SK, Canada.
authors.forename: Tanya E S
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Dahms
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Immunology, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo (USP), 14049-900 Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Roberto N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.affiliation: Department of Mycology and Plant Pathology, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi 221 005, India.
authors.forename: Harikesh B
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi 221 005, India.
authors.forename: Ram S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Upadhyay
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Immunology, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo (USP), 14049-900 Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Eriston Vieira
authors.initials: EV
authors.lastname: Gomes
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T 1Z4.
authors.forename: Clement Kin-Ming
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Tsui
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology, University of Mysore, Mysore-570001, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: Chandra
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Nayak S
mesh_terms: D005658:Fungi / Q000502:physiology*; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control; D010944:Plants / Q000382:microbiology*
keywords: advanced microscopy; crop productivity; phytopathogenic and symbiotic fungi; plant defence response; plant receptors; plant–fungal interactions