Deciphering Plant-Pathogen Interactions Through Plant Metabolomics: From Technical Advances to Applied Research

Within the different omics sciences, metabolomics is the newest and one of the most eminent. Plants are metabolically complex organisms, and plant-pathogen interactions are even more biochemically complex as both change within it, and during their interaction, they produce new metabolites. The application of metabolomics to study plant-pathogen interactions is still in the beginning and presents many challenges, but its potential is enormous. Metabolomics may be applied to identify metabolites involved in host susceptibility or tolerance, determine metabolic biomarkers, and unveil virulence mechanisms. Finally, its integration with other omics sciences brings the potential to decipher these complex interactions pushing forward our knowledge in the pathology field. Here, we present the state of the art on metabolomics applications for plant-pathogen interactions, focusing on technical advances and omics data analysis. Lastly, metabolomics impact on breeding for resistance programs is discussed.