Unraveling plant–microbe interactions: can integrated omics approaches offer concrete answers?

Abstract

Advances in high throughput omics techniques provide avenues to decipher plant microbiomes. However, there is limited information on how integrated informatics can help provide deeper insights into plant–microbe interactions in a concerted way. Integrating multi-omics datasets can transform our understanding of the plant microbiome from unspecified genetic influences on interacting species to specific gene-by-gene interactions. Here, we highlight recent progress and emerging strategies in crop microbiome omics research and review key aspects of how the integration of host and microbial omics-based datasets can be used to provide a comprehensive outline of complex crop–microbe interactions. We describe how these technological advances have helped unravel crucial plant and microbial genes and pathways that control beneficial, pathogenic, and commensal plant–microbe interactions. We identify crucial knowledge gaps and synthesize current limitations in our understanding of crop microbiome omics approaches. We highlight recent studies in which multi-omics-based approaches have led to improved models of crop microbial community structure and function. Finally, we recommend holistic approaches in integrating host and microbial omics datasets to achieve precision and efficiency in data analysis, which is crucial for biotic and abiotic stress control and in understanding the contribution of the microbiota in shaping plant fitness.