Phytobiomes and plant health: Science and policy

Plants grow in association with complex communities of other organisms, many of which can influence the health and productivity of plants and their responses to pathogens, pests and environmental stresses.  The phytobiome includes the entire system of factors that affect or are affected by plants, including all of the living organisms in, on and around plants, as well as the environment.  Due to the diverse and dynamic processes carried out by biome members, the phytobiome contributes to the sustained health and productivity of plants, plant ecosystems, and consumers of plants and plant products. Recent advances in systems biology approaches as well as supporting technologies, such as high-throughput sequencing, computational biology and many '-omics' technologies, are enabling exploration of the composition, function, and activities of phytobiomes.  Application of a systems approach and these technologies to fundamental questions is critical to advance our understanding of the many organismal interactions and organism-environment interactions affecting plant biomes.  Furthermore, application of this approach to applied questions will enable the use of knowledge of phytobiomes to enhance crop productivity for sustained global food security and bioenergy production.  Ideas from the broad scientific community are being solicited at a workshop in June 2015 to develop a research and training roadmap for advancing phytobiomes knowledge.