The International Phytobiomes Conference 2026 will bring together a broad community of scientists from the public and private sectors, alongside agricultural stakeholders, to collectively advance the rapidly evolving field of phytobiome science.
Plants grow in association with complex communities of organisms, environmental conditions, and management practices. The term “phytobiomes” captures this complexity. It refers to a plant (“phyto”) within a distinct geographical unit (“biome”), such as a field, grassland, greenhouse, garden, or forest. A phytobiome includes:
- the plant itself
- all micro- and macro-organisms living in, on, or around the plant, including microbes, animals, insects and other plants
- the environment, including soil, air, water, weather, and climate
Understanding entire phytobiome systems is critical for sustainable global food security, especially in the context of population growth, climate change, and the need to preserve biodiversity and natural resources. The conference will advance knowledge to help increase the production of safe and nutritious food, feed, and fiber.
Over three days, experts from a wide range of fields will present research and share expertise, including:
- Agronomy, plant pathology, and plant physiology
- Genetics, microbiology, and soil science
- Nutrient management and climate science
- Data science, AI, and biostatistics
The conference program will cover a wide range of topics related to phytobiomes, including farm sustainability, interactions between microbial communities and associated plants, soil health, nutrient management and uptake, and the use of AI, models, and imaging to probe the phytobiome. It will also focus on the development of databases, predictive modeling tools for next-generation agriculture, and the transformation of phytobiome discoveries into products.
The Conference is organized by the International Alliance for Phytobiomes Research
This will be the sixth Phytobiomes Conference. Previous Phytobiomes Conferences:
- 2015 – Washington, D.C. (USA),
- 2016 – Keystone Symposia, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
- 2018 – Montpellier, France
- 2022 – Denver, Colorado, USA
- 2026 – St. Louis, Missouri, USA
These conferences were widely attended by about 200 participants coming from 20 countries in North and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East.