Climate Warming and Plant Disease: Mechanistic Insights Into Pathogenic Stress Resilience

Climate warming is rapidly reshaping plant-pathogen interactions, leading to increased disease incidence and substantial crop losses worldwide. This review examines how rising temperature, humidity and shifting precipitation patterns intensify plant disease, while highlighting advances in sustainable microbe-based and molecular strategies to enhance plant immunity and crop resilience. A systematic literature-based synthesis highlights the role of root-adhering microbes (RAM), plant-microbe-environment crosstalk under combined stresses and engineered microbial consortia. It also explores advanced molecular tools, including CRISPR/Cas9 and RNA Interference (RNAi), for precise targeting of pathogen virulence and regulation of host defence pathways. Evidence shows that RAM and tailored microbial consortia enhance induced systemic resistance (ISR) and systemic acquired resistance (SAR), improving tolerance to multiple stresses. Meanwhile, molecular approaches are accelerating the development of climate-resilient, disease-resistant crop genotypes. Integrating beneficial microbes with precision molecular innovations offers a transformative path toward climate-smart agriculture. Strengthening links between plant immunity, microbial ecology and genetic technologies will be essential for building resilient food systems in a warming world.