Fungal endophytes are microorganisms that inhabit plant tissues without causing disease and emerge as critical mediators of plant stress tolerance, nutrient acquisition, and ecosystem resilience under diverse climate change scenarios. Their unique position within the host allows them to modulate physiological responses more closely than external microbiota. This review explores how endophytic fungi contribute to plant adaptation under climate-induced stresses such as heat, salinity, drought, pollution, and nutrient limitation, with a focus on molecular crosstalk, functional trait modules, and metabolic trade-offs. Key findings emphasize multilayered signaling systems, including MAMP/DAMP recognition, phytohormone regulation, immune tuning, ROS dynamics, and effector deployment, while emerging mechanisms such as cross-kingdom RNA and extracellular vesicle (EV)-mediated exchange are discussed as promising but currently limited in empirical validation within many endophytic systems. Endophytes also enhance nutrient exchange through conditional carbon-for-benefit trade and may shape rhizosphere microbiota and soil activities through plant-mediated inputs. Integrative multi-omics approaches provide predominantly correlational insights into the mechanistic basis of these effects, linking molecular function to ecosystem and community outcomes. These insights have potential applications in climate-resilient agriculture, phytoremediation, and ecosystem restoration; however, their large-scale implementation requires further field-based validation and context-specific assessment. Future priorities should focus on trait-based selection, ecological modeling, and biosafety evaluation to translate microbial functions into reliable field-level strategies that support sustainable crop performance under accelerating environmental stress.

Fungal endophytes are symbiotic microorganisms that establish strong relationships inside plant tissues, providing potential advantages, especially in grasses, by enhancing tolerance to both abiotic and biotic stresses. This review investigates the molecular mechanisms through which fungal endophytes mediate stress tolerance, targeting host–pathogen interactions. By modulating pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs), damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs), and effector proteins, fungal endophytes may contribute to priming the plant’s immune system, enhancing its resistance to pathogen invasion. Moreover, endophyte colonization regulates core processes such as osmotic regulation, reactive oxygen species (ROS) detoxification, and secondary metabolite biosynthesis that enable plants to tolerate environmental stresses like drought, heat, and salinity. The review highlights the impact of endophytes on immune priming, systemic acquired resistance (SAR), and the regulation of non-coding RNAs that regulate host gene networks associated with stress tolerance. Furthermore, the integration of advanced multi-omics techniques genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and fluxomics has revealed emerging insights into the genetic and metabolic pathways driving these symbiotic associations. However, grass-specific molecular datasets remain limited, and the consistency of endophyte-mediated tolerance across host species and environmental conditions is not yet fully resolved. Fungal endophytes increase grass stress resilience through coordinated pathogen recognition, RNA regulation, and metabolic reprogramming while AI-assisted multi-omics approaches are emerging as tools for identifying candidate regulatory networks, although empirical validation in grass–endophyte systems remains limited. Together, these advances highlight the potential for climate-smart and sustainable crop improvement. Future research integrating functional genomics, field validation, and biosafety assessment will be essential for translating endophyte-based strategies into reliable agricultural applications.

Alpine ecosystems are distinguished by nutrient-poor soils and low temperatures, short growing seasons, and harsh environmental conditions that have strong influence on plant growth and survival. Soil nutrient dynamics, especially the cycling of carbon (C) and the nutrients (N), play a central role in controlling the productivity, diversity and resilience of alpine vegetation. Microbial communities are important mediators of nutrient transformations that influence nutrient availability under the conditions of limited decomposition and mineralization. This chapter discusses the role of soil microbes, nutrient constraints and biogeochemical processes in determining plant distribution in the alpine communities. It highlights how changes in C and N cycling with climate change affect vegetation resilience and ecosystem functioning. This chapter provides evidence-based insights into soil–plant interactions and the role of microbes in enhancing biodiversity and informing conservation strategies to improve nutrient stability in alpine landscapes.

Drought, salt, high temperatures, pH imbalances in the soil, heavy metal toxicity, and floods are examples of abiotic stresses that pose serious challenges to agricultural sustainability and crop output worldwide. Plant physiological, biochemical, and molecular processes are negatively impacted by these environmental stresses, which are made worse by the rapid rate of climate change. This results in stunted development, decreased photosynthetic efficiency, disturbed nutrient balance, and eventually significant yield losses. The fundamental processes via which abiotic stressors affect plant systems are thoroughly examined in this chapter, with special attention paid to oxidative stress, hormone signaling, osmotic and ionic imbalances, and stress-induced metabolic reprogramming. It also clarifies crop-specific susceptibilities and geographical differences in stress exposure, emphasizing the disproportionate impacts on rainfed agricultural systems and staple food crops in areas like the Middle East, South Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa. The chapter offers an integrative framework of mitigation strategies in addition to evaluating the environmental and economic effects of prolonged abiotic stress, such as soil degradation and biodiversity decline. These consist of microbial inoculants, sophisticated biotechnology treatments, traditional agronomic techniques, and sustainable land management strategies. In the context of creating resilient agroecosystems, the function of precision technology, climate-smart agriculture, and international policy frameworks is also covered. The chapter emphasizes the critical need for flexible, science-based approaches to protect global food security in the face of growing environmental stressors via multidisciplinary insights and case studies tailored to certain regions.

Botanical gardens are highly heterogeneous plant systems characterized by high taxonomic diversity, with numerous plant taxa represented within confined areas, and complex ecological interactions that create unique challenges for pest management. Conventional IPM strategies, designed for simplified agroecosystems, often fail to address complex pest pressures in curated environments. Microbial biostimulants have emerged as promising components of sustainable IPM strategies by enhancing plant defense responses, improving stress resilience, and reducing reliance on chemical inputs. This review synthesizes current knowledge on microbial biostimulants, including plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and endophytic microorganisms, in modulating plant defense against insect herbivores. These beneficial microbes enhance plant resistance through multiple mechanisms. They activate induced systemic resistance and modulate key phytohormones, including jasmonic acid, salicylic acid, and ethylene. Additionally, they regulate calcium-dependent and reactive oxygen species-mediated defenses. Microbially induced changes in plant secondary metabolites and volatile organic compounds further influence herbivore behavior and trophic interactions. Emphasis is placed on integrating microbial biostimulants into IPM frameworks tailored to botanical gardens. This highlights compatibility with biological control agents and reduced reliance on synthetic pesticides. Despite promising advances, challenges remain, including context-dependent efficacy, host specificity and limited long-term validation. Overall, microbial biostimulants offer a promising tool for enhancing IPM in biodiversity-rich botanical gardens, although further long-term validation is needed to fully assess their sustainability and effectiveness.

Climate change is worsening drought, salinity and extreme heat across MENA, threatening food security. Microbial biotechnology offers a sustainable solution by harnessing beneficial soil microbes like PGPR, AMF and endophytes that enhance crop resilience through nutrient mobilization, stress hormone regulation and antioxidant protection. Field trials in key crops (wheat in Egypt, olives in Morocco, date palms in Saudi Arabia) show 15-28% yield increases, though challenges remain in strain optimization, farmer adoption and policy support. Scaling up requires region-specific microbial consortia, advanced delivery systems like nano-encapsulation, and integration with digital agriculture. By overcoming these barriers, microbial solutions can become vital for climate-smart agriculture in MENA, supporting both food security (SDG 2) and climate action (SDG 13) amid growing environmental stresses.