Epigenetic landscape underlying plant-microbiome chemical communication

Area of Science:

• Plant science
• Microbiology
• Epigenetics
• Chemical ecology

Background:

• Chemical communication is vital in plant-microbiome systems, driving coevolution.
• Epigenetic regulation's role in this communication is crucial but mechanistically unclear.
• This knowledge gap hinders microbiome function exploitation in agriculture.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize current knowledge on the epigenetic landscape in plant-microbiome chemical communication.
• To dissect the complex interactions among plants, resident microbiota, and pathogens.
• To propose novel strategies for understanding these interactions.

Main Methods:

• Review and synthesis of recent findings in chemistry and epigenetics.
• Analysis of traditional plant-pathogen and ternary interaction models.
• Proposal of chemo-epigenetic patterns and Intelligent Click Chemistry.

Main Results:

• Identified knowledge gaps in chemo-epigenetic regulation of plant-microbiome interactions.
• Proposed four chemo-epigenetic patterns governing plant-microbe-pathogen dynamics.
• Introduced Intelligent Click Chemistry as a strategy to study these events.

Conclusions:

• Understanding the epigenetic landscape is key to harnessing beneficial microbes and managing pathogens.
• Intelligent Click Chemistry offers a novel approach to unravel complex chemo-epigenetic events.
• This research paves the way for precise microbiome exploitation in sustainable agriculture.