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Research Project: Genetics of Disease Resistance and Food Quality Traits in Corn

Location: Plant Science Research

Title: What are the top 10 unanswered questions in molecular plant-microbe interactions

Author
item HARRIS, JEANNE - University Of Vermont
item Balint-Kurti, Peter
item BEDE, JACQUELINE - McGill University - Canada
item Gold, Scott
item GOSS, ERICA - University Of Florida
item GRENVILLE-BRIGGS, LAURA - Swedish University Of Agricultural Sciences
item JONES, KATHRYN - Florida State University
item WANG, AIMING - London Research And Development Centre
item WANG, YUANCHAO - Nanjing Agricultural University
item MITRA, RAKA - Carleton College
item SOHN, KEEHOON - Pohang University Of Science & Technology
item ALVAREZ, MARIA ELENA - Universidad Nacional De Cordoba

Submitted to: Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/1/2020
Publication Date: 10/26/2020
Citation: Harris, J.M., Balint Kurti, P.J., Bede, J., Gold, S.E., Goss, E., Grenville-Briggs, L., Jones, K., Wang, A., Wang, Y., Mitra, R., Sohn, K., Alvarez, M. 2020. What are the top 10 unanswered questions in molecular plant-microbe interactions. Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions. 33(12):1354–1365. https://doi.org/10.1094/MPMI-08-20-0229-CR.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1094/MPMI-08-20-0229-CR

Interpretive Summary: In this review we summarize the top unanswered questions in the field of molecular plant-microbe interactions.

Technical Abstract: The past few decades have seen major discoveries in the field of molecular plant-microbe interactions. As the result of technological and intellectual advances, we are now able to answer questions at a level of mechanistic detail that we could not have imagined 20 years ago. The MPMI editorial board felt it was time to take stock and reassess. What big questions remain unanswered? We knew that to identify the fundamental, overarching questions that drive our research, we needed to do this as a community. To reach a diverse audience of people with different backgrounds and perspectives, working in different areas of plant-microbe interactions, we queried the more than 1400 participants at the 2019 IC-MPMI meeting in Glasgow. This group effort resulted in a list of ten, broad-reaching, fundamental questions that influence and inform our research. Here we introduce these Top 10 unanswered questions, giving context and a brief description of the issues. Each of these questions will be the subject of a detailed review in the coming months. We hope that this process of reflecting on what is known and unknown and identifying the themes that underlie our research will provide a framework to use going forward, giving newcomers a sense of the mystery of the big questions and inspiring new avenues and novel insights.