Microbial-fungal symbioses are fundamental drivers of ecological networks and agricultural systems, orchestrating critical processes such as nutrient cycling, maintenance of soil and plant health, and enhancement of host resilience across diverse environments (Martin Williams et al. 2023). These interactions, spanning a continuum from mutualism to commensalism and antagonism, involve fungi engaging with taxonomically diverse partners (Martin & Tan 2025). Under the pressures of global environmental change, land degradation, and intensifying agricultural demands, understanding the mechanistic basis and ecological consequences of these interactions has become increasingly urgent and a clear research priority This Research Topic aims to consolidate pioneering research focused on the mechanistic basis and diversity of microbial-fungal partnerships, addressing key questions related to the molecular and ecological mechanisms that regulate microbiome-host interactions. The 12 publications included in this Research Topic have expanded our understanding of the role of these across diverse contexts, including medicinal plants, fruit crops, hyphosphere-associated bacteria, and rhizosphere and endophytic interactions. The present Research Topic reinforces the complexity of microbial-fungal symbioses across a wide range of ecological and applied contexts, from plant-associated microbiomes to soil and insect systems. The published studies demonstrate that inter-kingdom interactions are central to regulating diverse functions, including plant fitness, metabolic dynamics, ecosystem resilience, and responses to environmental and anthropogenic pressures.The findings presented here provide new conceptual and methodological insights for understanding how microbial consortia can be explored to improve agricultural sustainability and ecosystem restoration. Future research should further elucidate the molecular and ecological basis regulating these interactions, with a focus on translating these findings into scalable biotechnological applications.
Herrera et al. (Tue,) studied this question.