Plant pathogenesis: Toward multidimensional understanding of the microbiome

Single pathogen-targeted disease management measure has shown drawbacks in field efficacy under the scenario of global change. An in-depth understanding of plant pathogenesis will provide a promising solution but faces the challenges of the emerging paradigm involving the plant microbiome. While the beneficial impact of the plant microbiome is well characterized, their potential role in facilitating pathological processes has so far remained largely overlooked. To address these unsolved controversies and emerging challenges, we hereby highlight the pathobiome, the disease-assisting portion hidden in the plant microbiome, in the plant pathogenesis paradigm. We review the detrimental actions mediated by the pathobiome at multiple scales and further discuss how natural and human triggers result in the prevalence of the plant pathobiome, which would probably provide a clue to the mitigation of plant disease epidemics. Collectively, the article would advance the current insight into plant pathogenesis and also pave a new way to cope with the upward trends of plant disease by designing the pathobiome-targeted measure. Understanding plant pathogenesis faces the challenges of the emerging paradigm involving the plant microbiome. In this article, we highlight the detrimental actions mediated by the pathobiome at multiple scales and further discuss how natural and human triggers result in the prevalence of the plant pathobiome, which would probably provide a clue to mitigation of the plant disease epidemics.image The resident microbiota is a hidden game changer in plant health and disease.The invasive pathogen can hijack certain members of the resident microbiota to form partnerships within the reassembled community, which is currently conceptualized as the pathobiome.The pathobiome facilitates the pathological process of host plants, from the onset of the disease to its progression, by coordinating complex interactions at multiple scales.The pathobiome-targeted approach may pave a new way to address the increasing trends of plant diseases in the face of global change.