In response to endogenous and exogenous stimuli, the plant response has evolved various molecular pathways involving the synergistic inter-connection of thousands of major and secondary mediators. These pathways are organized into networks that specifically adapt plant changes to the stimuli at the genetic, epigenetic, morphology, metabolism and physiological level. To date, the signal transduction in plants has been only partially clarified and a lot of molecular interactions of this complicated scheme need to be examined, understood, and elucidated.
More than one million metabolites are produced throughout the plant kingdom. These compounds can act as key signaling molecules able to stimulate or inhibit specific cell/tissue rearrangements during plant growth and development. Multi-omics are valuable integrated approaches that have significantly accelerated the discovery of plant signaling metabolites by the systematic comparative analysis of massive data sets. The development of cutting-edge high throughput Omics technology has therefore allowed scientists to answer unmet questions for decades and to provide novel and intriguing insights about plants’ life, evolution, adaptation, resilience, and resistance. These technologies have also been instrumental for facilitating the identification of signal transduction pathways segments to be investigated in depth to better understand specific plant response systems.
As a powerful tool for uncovering plant signaling metabolites, the present collection intends release all original research articles, data notes, reviews, and short communications that cover all aspects of Omics studies aiming to unravel plant signaling transduction involved in the response to physiological and stressor conditions.
Some covered topics (but not limited to) include:
- Genomics
- Epigenomics
- Transcriptomics
- Proteomics
- Metabolomics
- Microbiomics
However, particular attention will be paid to miRNomics and metabolomics (including volatilome) analyses, as microRNAs and metabolites regulate about 30% of plant gene expression and reproduction, as well as protection, respectively.
Prof. Essaid Barka and Prof. Angelo Gismondi declare no conflict of interest related to this topic.
