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This eBook is a collection of articles from a Frontiers Research Topic. Frontiers Research Topics are very popular trademarks of the Frontiers Journals Series: they are collections of at least ten articles, all centered on a particular subject. With their unique mix of varied contributions from Original Research to Review Articles, Frontiers Research Topics unify the most influential researchers, the latest key findings and historical advances in a hot research area! Find out more on how to host your own Frontiers Research Topic or contribute to one as an author by contacting the Frontiers Editorial Office: frontiersin.org/about/contact

Science: general issues --- Oceanography (seas) --- microbe-host interactions --- symbioses --- holobionts --- microbial networks --- mutualism --- antagonism --- metabolite exchange --- chemical ecology --- climate change --- microbe-host interactions --- symbioses --- holobionts --- microbial networks --- mutualism --- antagonism --- metabolite exchange --- chemical ecology --- climate change

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The cell wall is a complex structure mainly composed of cellulose microfibrils embedded in a cohesive hemicellulose and pectin matrix. Cell wall structural proteins, enzymes and their inhibitors are also essential components of plant cell walls. They are involved in the cross-link of cell wall polysaccharides, wall structure, and the perception and signaling of defense-related elicitors at the cell surface. In the outer part of the epidermal cells, the polysaccharides are coated by the cuticle, consisting of hydrophobic cutin, suberin and wax layers. Lignin, a macromolecule composed of highly cross-linked phenolic molecules, is a major component of the secondary cell wall. The cell wall is the first cell structure on which interactions between plants and a wide range of other organisms, including insects, nematodes, pathogenic or symbiotic micro-organisms take place. It not only represents a barrier that limits access to the cellular contents that provide a rich nutrient source for pathogens but serves as a source of elicitors of plant defense responses released upon partial enzymatic degradation of wall polysaccharides during infection. Modification of the plant cell wall can also occur at the level of plasmodesmata during virus infection as well as during abiotic stresses. The fine structure and composition of the plant cell wall as well as the regulation of its biosynthesis can thus strongly influence resistance and susceptibility to pathogens. This Research Topic provides novel insights and detailed overviews on the dynamics of the plant cell wall in plant defence, parasitism and symbiosis and describes experimental approaches to study plant cell wall modifications occurring during interaction of plants with different organisms.

Plant cell walls. --- Botany. --- callose --- plant cell wall integrity --- susceptibility factors --- Plant Symbioses --- Cell wall degrading enzymes --- plant pathogens --- Plant Parasitic Nematode --- Methanol

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The cell wall is a complex structure mainly composed of cellulose microfibrils embedded in a cohesive hemicellulose and pectin matrix. Cell wall structural proteins, enzymes and their inhibitors are also essential components of plant cell walls. They are involved in the cross-link of cell wall polysaccharides, wall structure, and the perception and signaling of defense-related elicitors at the cell surface. In the outer part of the epidermal cells, the polysaccharides are coated by the cuticle, consisting of hydrophobic cutin, suberin and wax layers. Lignin, a macromolecule composed of highly cross-linked phenolic molecules, is a major component of the secondary cell wall. The cell wall is the first cell structure on which interactions between plants and a wide range of other organisms, including insects, nematodes, pathogenic or symbiotic micro-organisms take place. It not only represents a barrier that limits access to the cellular contents that provide a rich nutrient source for pathogens but serves as a source of elicitors of plant defense responses released upon partial enzymatic degradation of wall polysaccharides during infection. Modification of the plant cell wall can also occur at the level of plasmodesmata during virus infection as well as during abiotic stresses. The fine structure and composition of the plant cell wall as well as the regulation of its biosynthesis can thus strongly influence resistance and susceptibility to pathogens. This Research Topic provides novel insights and detailed overviews on the dynamics of the plant cell wall in plant defence, parasitism and symbiosis and describes experimental approaches to study plant cell wall modifications occurring during interaction of plants with different organisms.

Plant cell walls. --- Botany. --- callose --- plant cell wall integrity --- susceptibility factors --- Plant Symbioses --- Cell wall degrading enzymes --- plant pathogens --- Plant Parasitic Nematode --- Methanol --- callose --- plant cell wall integrity --- susceptibility factors --- Plant Symbioses --- Cell wall degrading enzymes --- plant pathogens --- Plant Parasitic Nematode --- Methanol

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A fascinating examination of socially parasitic invaders, from butterflies to bacteria, that survive and thrive by exploiting the communication systems of ant colonies. Down below, on sidewalks, in fallen leaves, and across the forest floor, a covert invasion is taking place. Ant colonies, revered and studied for their complex collective behaviors, are being infiltrated by tiny organisms called myrmecophiles. Using incredibly sophisticated tactics, various species of butterflies, beetles, crickets, spiders, fungi, and bacteria insert themselves into ant colonies and decode the colonies’ communication system. Once able to “speak the language,” these outsiders can masquerade as ants. Suddenly colony members can no longer distinguish friend from foe. Pulitzer Prize–winning author and biologist Bert Hölldobler and behavioral ecologist Christina L. Kwapich explore this remarkable phenomenon, showing how myrmecophiles manage their feat of code-breaking and go on to exploit colony resources. Some myrmecophiles slip themselves into their hosts’ food sharing system, stealing liquid nutrition normally exchanged between ant nestmates. Other intruders use specialized organs and glandular secretions to entice ants or calm their aggression. Guiding readers through key experiments and observations, Hölldobler and Kwapich reveal a universe of behavioral mechanisms by which myrmecophiles turn ants into unwilling servants. As The Guests of Ants makes clear, symbiosis in ant societies can sometimes be mutualistic, but, in most cases, these foreign intruders exhibit amazingly diverse modes of parasitism. Like other unwelcome guests, many of these myrmecophiles both disrupt and depend on their host, making for an uneasy coexistence that nonetheless plays an important role in the balance of nature.

Ant communities. --- Ants --- Host-parasite relationships. --- Myrmecophyes. --- Parasites. --- Behavior. --- Batesian mimicry. --- Wasmannian mimicry. --- aggressive mimicry. --- ant symbioses. --- ant-bird. --- behavioral mimicry. --- chemical mimicry. --- colony odor. --- hydrocarbon mimicry. --- kleptoparasites. --- mermithergate. --- myrmecomorphy. --- myrmecophagy. --- parasites of ants. --- social parasitism.