Deciphering the Omics of Plant-Microbe Interaction: Perspectives and New Insights

INTRODUCTION: Plants do not grow in isolation, rather they are hosts to a variety of microbes in their natural environments. While, few thrive in the plants for their own benefit, others may have a direct impact on plants in a symbiotic manner. Unraveling plant-microbe interactions is a critical component in recognizing the positive and negative impacts of microbes on plants. Also, by affecting the environment around plants, microbes may indirectly influence plants. The progress in sequencing technologies in the genomics era and several omics tools has accelerated in biological science. Studying the complex nature of plant-microbe interactions can offer several strategies to increase the productivity of plants in an environmentally friendly manner by providing better insights. This review brings forward the recent works performed in building omics strategies that decipher the interactions between plant-microbiome. At the same time, it further explores other associated mutually beneficial aspects of plant-microbe interactions such as plant growth promotion, nitrogen fixation, stress suppressions in crops and bioremediation; as well as provides better insights on metabolic interactions between microbes and plants through omics approaches. It also aims to explore advances in the study of Arabidopsis as an important avenue to serve as a baseline tool to create models that help in scrutinizing various factors that contribute to the elaborate relationship between plants and microbes. Causal relationships between plants and microbes can be established through systematic gnotobiotic experimental studies to test hypotheses on biologically derived interactions. CONCLUSION: This review will cover recent advances in the study of plant-microbe interactions keeping in view the advantages of these interactions in improving nutrient uptake and plant health.