Synergistic Plant Metabolomics and Plant Growth-Promoting Microorganisms in Addressing Abiotic Stress

Naeem Khan holds MSc and PhD degrees in plant sciences with a specialization in plant physiology from Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan. He is currently serving as a senior scientist at the Agronomy Department, University of Florida, USA, Dr. Khan's research focuses on plant-microbe interactions, phytohormones, plant metabolites, breeding and genetics, and crop responses to abiotic stresses. His goal is to advance the development of genetically resilient and high-yielding crops with enhanced environmental tolerance to address economic losses from meteorological extremes like drought and heat, ensuring food security. His research emphasizes identifying secondary metabolites linked to water stress tolerance, understanding metabolic pathways involved in drought stress tolerance, and investigating the role of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) and plant growth regulators (PGR) in enhancing plant growth under abiotic stresses. Dr. Khan is actively involved in the World Food Crops Breeding and Genetics Program at the University of Florida, focusing on breeding techniques, disease resistance mechanisms, synthetic wheat production, and marker analysis in various food crops under diverse environmental conditions. Dr. Khan has published over 110 peer reviewed journal articles, book chapters and editorials. He also maintains a worldwide network and serves as Editor in chief, associate editor and editorial board member for many international scientific peer-reviewed journals.Mohsin Tanveer received his PhD in plant physiology from the University of Tasmania, Australia. Since 2021, he has been actively involved in several projects focused on abiotic stress tolerance in plants. He has recently joined the Chinese Academy of Science as an Associate Professorv , where he currently leads two projects on salinity tolerance in halophytes, serving as PI on one project and co-PI the other. His research interests include plant stress physiology, nutrient metabolism, ion transport, and agricultural sustainable development. In 2021, he was listed among the top 40 young researchers in Australia and ranked first in the field of Botany. Since 2019, Dr. Tanveer has been recognized among the top 2% of scientists according to Stanford University USA and Elsevier's rating. He published over 52 articles and edited over 2 books on important aspects of plant physiology, plant stress tolerance, and crop production. According to Scopus, Prof. Tanvir’s publications have already received over 7729 citations with a h-index of 43.

• Section I: General introduction1. Introduction to plant metabolomics2. Foundations of microbial interactions in plant systems3. Environmental abiotic stresses and their impacts on plants4. Harnessing sustainable agricultural practices with plant growth-promoting fungi for abiotic stress managementSection II: Functions and mechanisms of metabolites and microbe-mediated responses conferring abiotic stress tolerance5. Metabolic responses to environmental challenges6. Microbial contributions to plant resilience7. Metabolites and ion transport in plants under salinity stress conditions8. Metabolites and melatonin in enhancing stress tolerance9. Microbial production of beneficial indolamines10. Metabolites as regulators of seed germinationSection III: Recent advances in plant metabolomics and microbial applications11. Integration of omics technologies in plant sciences12. Bioinformatics and data analysis in metabolomics13. Case studies: Successful applications of plant metabolomics14. Application of microbes to improve minerals biofortification15. Harnessing microbes for crop improvement16. Educational applications of metabolomics in plant sciences17. Emerging trends in metabolomics research18. Microbial modulation of plant metabolism: Mechanisms, impacts, and applications19. Application of nanoparticles for harnessing metabolite-induced abiotic stress tolerance20. Global challenges and the future of plant sciences