Topics and Trends in Most Cited Plant Pathogens and Fungal Diseases Papers

Ranked by citations 18 months after publication

Class of 2026 (Papers Published in 2024)

What topics and trends defined most-cited Plant Pathogens and Fungal Diseases research in the Class of 2026?

Ascomycota, convolutional neural networks, and Basidiomycota anchor the Class of 2026 plant-pathogen cohort, alongside dermatophytosis, Trichophyton indotineae, and azole resistance. From Class of 2025 to 2026, fungal taxonomy and antifungal resistance rose sharply while deep-learning and data-augmentation themes receded among top-cited work.

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Updated July 14, 2026

At a glance

Field
Plant Pathogens and Fungal Diseases
Cohort label
Class of 2026 (2024 publications)
Papers analyzed
11,441
Papers ranked
20
Top topics in ranked papers
Ascomycota, convolutional neural network, Basidiomycota, dermatophytosis, Trichophyton indotineae
Publication window
Jan 1, 2024 – Dec 31, 2024
Eligibility
Research articles; reviews excluded
Citation window
18 months post-publication
18m citation range
30–75
Data source
OpenAlex · Retrieved Jul 2026
License
CC BY 4.0

Rankings

20 papers ranked by 18-month citation count

#1 of 11,441
7518m citations

Fusaric acid mediates the assembly of disease-suppressive rhizosphere microbiota via induced shifts in plant root exudates

Xue Jin et al.Nature Communications202410.1038/s41467-024-49218-9

Zhong Wei, Xingang ZhouNortheast Agricultural University, China

fusaric acidFusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersiciDisease-suppressive microbiometomato root exudatesrhizosphere assemblytomato genotype resistanceplant-pathogen-microbiota interplaysystemic changes in rhizosphere microbiotadisease-suppressive taxa recruitmentresistant and susceptible genotypesroot exudation changesmicrobial-mediated mechanismsplant physiological responsespathogen-induced microbiota shifts
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#2 of 11,441
5518m citations

Phylogenomics, divergence times and notes of orders in Basidiomycota

Mao-Qiang He et al.Fungal Diversity202410.1007/s13225-024-00535-w

Mao-Qiang HeSichuan Agricultural University, China

BasidiomycotaPhylogenomicsDivergence timeAgaricomycotinaPucciniomycotinaUstilaginomycotinaMycenineaeAgaricalesMycenaceaetime-framed phylogenomic treetaxonomic outlinemolecular phylogenetic dataphenotypical characterssubphyla divergenceorder-level classificationfamily-level divergence487 species datasetfungal tree of life
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#3 of 11,441
5018m citations

Phylogenomic analysis of the <i>Candida auris- Candida haemuli</i> clade and related taxa in the <i>Metschnikowiaceae,</i> and proposal of thirteen new genera, fifty-five new combinations and nine new species

F Liu et al.Persoonia - Molecular Phylogeny and Evolution of Fungi202410.3767/persoonia.2024.52.02

F LiuHebei University, China

Candida aurisCandida haemuliCAH cladeMetschnikowiaceaeCandidozymaPhylogenomicsaverage amino acid identity (AAI)percentage of conserved proteins (POCP)presence-absence patterns of orthologs (PAPO)comparative genomicsmultidrug-resistant opportunistic pathogensClavisporaMetschnikowiaDebaryomycetaceaeCandida tropicalisSaccharomycotinapolyphyletic Candida genustaxonomic reassignmentHyphopichia
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#4 of 11,441
5018m citations

Fungal diversity notes 1717–1817: taxonomic and phylogenetic contributions on genera and species of fungal taxa

Shi‐Liang Liu et al.Fungal Diversity202410.1007/s13225-023-00529-0

Shi‐Liang LiuChinese Academy of Sciences, China

AscoglobosporaAtheliellaRufoboletusTenuimycesAscomycotaBasidiomycotaPhylogenetic placementmorphological characterizationtaxonomic revisionmarine fungiCortinariusRussulaAgaricusLaboulbeniaPolyporestropical fungihost associationsBiogeographic distributionMolecular phylogeneticsspecies delimitation
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#5 of 11,441
4718m citations

A re-evaluation of Diaporthe: refining the boundaries of species and species complexes

Asha J. Dissanayake et al.Fungal Diversity202410.1007/s13225-024-00538-7

Jian‐Kui LiuUniversity of Electronic Science and Technology of China, China

Diaporthespecies complexesGenealogical Concordance Phylogenetic Species RecognitionITS phylogenyTranslation elongation factor 1-alpha genetub genecal genehis geneMultigene phylogenyPoisson Tree ProcessesMulti-rate Poisson Tree Processescoalescence-based modelssectional classificationwoody hostsGuizhou Provincetype isolatesPlant pathogenic fungi
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#7 of 11,441
3818m citations

Elevated mutation rates in multi-azole resistant Aspergillus fumigatus drive rapid evolution of antifungal resistance

Michael J Bottery et al.Nature Communications202410.1038/s41467-024-54568-5

Michael Bottery, Michael BromleyUniversity of Manchester, United Kingdom

Aspergillus fumigatusAzole resistanceazole fungicidesTR34/L98Hcyp51Amsh6-G233ADNA mismatch repairhypermutatormutation rate elevationselective sweepsagricultural antifungalsnext-generation antifungalsgenetic linkagefitness costenvironmental selection pressurecross-resistanceresistance evolutionmsh6 variant
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#8 of 11,441
3718m citations

Detecting fungi-affected multi-crop disease on heterogeneous region dataset using modified ResNeXt approach

Nidhi Upadhyay et al.Environmental Monitoring and Assessment202410.1007/s10661-024-12790-0

Nidhi UpadhyayGLA University, India

fungi-affected diseasemulti-crop disease detectionheterogeneous region datasetmodified ResNeXtResNeXt architecturedeep learning classificationPlant disease diagnosisfungal pathogen detectionConvolutional neural networkagricultural image analysistransfer learningmodel modification strategy
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#9 of 11,441
3618m citations

Cucumber Downy Mildew Disease Prediction Using a CNN-LSTM Approach

Yafei Wang et al.Agriculture202410.3390/agriculture14071155

Hanping MaoJiangsu Changdian Technology Co., Ltd., China

cucumber downy mildewCNN-LSTMConvolutional neural networkLSTMspore countingportable spore catcherdisease incidence predictiongreenhouse environment monitoringPearson correlation analysisleaf area proportionenvironmental data fusionMean Absolute ErrorMean Square Errorroot mean square errorBland-Altman analysisairborne plant diseaseearly warning modeltime series prediction
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#10 of 11,441
3518m citations

Polypore funga and species diversity in tropical forest ecosystems of Africa, America and Asia, and a comparison with temperate and boreal regions of the Northern Hemisphere

Heng Zhao et al.Forest Ecosystems202410.1016/j.fecs.2024.100200

Yuan YuanBeijing Forestry University, China

Polyporestropical forest ecosystemstropical Africatropical Americatropical Asiatemperate and boreal forestsAgaricomycetesPolyporalesPolyporaceaeHymenochaetalesHymenochaetaceaeregional endemic speciesSørensen similarity indexwhite rot polyporesbrown rot polyporesectomycorrhizal polyporeswood degradersdistribution patternsspecies compositionbiogeographic analysis
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#11 of 11,441
3418m citations

Antifungal activity of copper oxide nanoparticles derived from Zizyphus spina leaf extract against Fusarium root rot disease in tomato plants

Sozan E El-Abeid et al.Journal of Nanobiotechnology202410.1186/s12951-023-02281-8

Mohamed A. El‐KhateebAgricultural Research Center, Egypt

copper oxide nanoparticlesZizyphus spina leaf extractgreen synthesisFusarium solanitomato root rot diseaseantifungal activityin vitro and in vivo assaysdisease severity reductionKocide 2000Trichoderma biocideseedling vigorchlorophyll pigmentsenzymatic activitypollen grain maturationdose-dependent efficacymolecular identificationnanoparticle characterizationplant growth promotionBiocontrol agentsagricultural nanotechnology
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#12 of 11,441
3418m citations

CNN Models Approaches for Robust Classification of Apple Diseases

İsmail KunduracıoğluComputer and decision making.202410.59543/comdem.v1i.10957

İsmail KunduracıoğluIgdir University, Turkey

CNN-based modelsapple leaf disease classificationResNet-50InceptionV4XceptionDenseNet121EfficientNetV2_mVGG13Early disease detectionPlant disease diagnosisdeep learning for agricultureImage-based disease detectionModel benchmarkingF1-scoreprecision and recall metrics
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#14 of 11,441
3318m citations

Inducing novel endosymbioses by implanting bacteria in fungi

Gabriel H Giger et al.Nature202410.1038/s41586-024-08010-x

Julia A. VorholtETH Zurich, Switzerland

endosymbiosisRhizopus microsporusMycetohabitans rhizoxinicaEscherichia colibacterial implantationfilamentous fungusendosymbiogenesisvertical transmissionadaptive evolutionseptum formationrhizoxin congenersmetabolic function transfersingle-cell implantationde novo endosymbiosissynthetic endosymbiosishost mutation accumulationcytosol implantationfitness constraintscontinuous positive selectionphenotypic adaptation
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#15 of 11,441
3218m citations

Comparative metabolome and transcriptome analyses reveal the role of MeJA in improving postharvest disease resistance and maintaining the quality of Rosa roxburghii fruit

Juan Ma et al.Postharvest Biology and Technology202410.1016/j.postharvbio.2024.113314

Xiaochun Ding, Xuejun PanGuizhou University, China

Rosa roxburghiimethyl jasmonate (MeJA)postharvest disease resistancesuperoxide dismutase (SOD)catalase (CAT)peroxidase (POD)AsA-GSH cyclephenylpropane metabolismlignin biosynthesisRrRGA3RrPPORrCHITRrMIXORrDHARRrPALRrAOCRrNCEDabscisic acid synthesisjasmonic acid biosynthesisPhenolic acids
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#16 of 11,441
3218m citations

Fungal diversity notes 1818–1918: taxonomic and phylogenetic contributions on genera and species of fungi

Ishara S. Manawasinghe et al.Fungal Diversity202410.1007/s13225-024-00541-y

Ishara S. ManawasingheZhongkai University of Agriculture and Engineering, China

Fungal Diversity Notes seriesAscomycotaGlomeromycotaMucoromycotaJinshanaLithophyllosporaParapolyplosphaeriaStegonsporiicolaMultigene phylogenyPhylogenetic placementfungus-host recordsfungus-geography recordsNew fungal speciestaxonomic contributionsmorphological characterizationendophytic fungiaquatic fungiColletotrichumDiaportheFomitiporia
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#17 of 11,441
3118m citations

Trichoderma afroharzianum TRI07 metabolites inhibit Alternaria alternata growth and induce tomato defense-related enzymes

Bassant Philip et al.Scientific Reports202410.1038/s41598-024-52301-2

Bassant Philip, Said I. Behiry, Mohamed Z. M. SalemAlexandria University, Egypt

Trichoderma afroharzianum TRI07Alternaria alternatatomato leaf spot diseaseethyl acetate extractVolatile organic compoundsGC-MS analysisspathulenoltriacetinaspartamesolid-phase microextraction1-octen-3-oneantioxidant enzymes (CAT, POD, SOD, PPO)oxidative stress markers (MDA, H2O2)HPLC analysisPhenolic acidsflavonoid compoundsDual culture assayInternal Transcribed SpacerTranslation elongation factor 1-alpha geneBiological control
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#18 of 11,441
3118m citations

MCDCNet: Multi-scale constrained deformable convolution network for apple leaf disease detection

Bin Liu et al.Computers and Electronics in Agriculture202410.1016/j.compag.2024.109028

Haixi ZhangNorthwest A&F University, China

MCDCNetmulti-scale constrained deformable convolutionapple leaf disease detectiondeformable convolution networkmulti-scale feature extractionPlant disease diagnosisConvolutional neural networkImage-based disease detectionleaf disease classificationcomputer vision for agriculture
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#19 of 11,441
3118m citations

Enhanced surface colonisation and competition during bacterial adaptation to a fungus

Anne Richter et al.Nature Communications202410.1038/s41467-024-48812-1

Ákos T. KovácsTechnical University of Denmark, Denmark

bacterial-fungal interactionsco-culture experimental evolutionBacillus subtilisAspergillus nigersurfactinlipopeptidesurface spreadingFungal growth inhibitionenvironmental acidificationDegS-DegU two-component systemfungal hyphae bulgingsecretory vesicle delocalisationRlmA-dependent cell wall stresscompetitive exclusionadaptive mutations
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#20 of 11,441
3018m citations

Drought increases Norway spruce susceptibility to the Eurasian spruce bark beetle and its associated fungi

Sigrid Netherer et al.New Phytologist202410.1111/nph.19635

Sigrid NethererUniversity of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Austria

Norway spruceIps typographusEndoconidiophora polonicaGrosmannia penicillatadrought stressresin flowpredawn twig water potentialterpene concentrationsmonoterpenesditerpenesphenolic concentrationscarbohydrate reservesbark beetle attackfungal lesion lengthhost selectiontree defense mechanismscarbon fixationbark beetle-fungus symbiosisfield bioassaysroof-induced drought
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Dominant research themes and year-over-year shifts in Plant Pathogens and Fungal Diseases

What Topics Define the Class of 2026?

The informative word cloud across the 50 highest 18-month-cited plant pathogens and fungal diseases papers reveals a field split between fungal systematics and clinical mycology on one side and computer-vision disease diagnostics on the other. Ascomycota and convolutional neural network tie as the most frequently mentioned informative topics, each appearing in 5 of 50 papers (normalized frequency 0.10). A second tier clusters major fungal phyla and dermatophyte themes—Basidiomycota, dermatophytosis, and Trichophyton indotineae each appear in 4 papers (0.08)—alongside species delimitation, multigene phylogeny, biological control, azole resistance, and terbinafine resistance (3 papers each, 0.06). Larger type further highlights Phylogenomics, Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici, Candida auris, ResNet-50, LSTM, and transfer learning, signaling that influential 2024 publications combine taxonomic revision and antifungal-resistance surveillance with deep-learning pipelines for leaf and pathogen image classification. Biocontrol agents, volatile organic compounds, and plant growth promotion appear alongside DNA barcoding and whole-genome sequencing, suggesting high-impact work spans molecular identification, biocontrol discovery, and AI-assisted plant disease diagnosis rather than a single methodological lane.

Leading research themes
Leading research themes

How Did Topics Shift from the Class of 2025 to the Class of 2026?

Comparing normalized concept frequencies between the Class of 2025 (2023 publications) and Class of 2026 (2024 publications) cohorts shows a rebalancing of early-high-impact plant pathogen and fungal disease research away from deep-learning dominance toward fungal taxonomy, clinical mycology, and biocontrol. Ascomycota exhibited the largest gain among leading themes (+0.08 normalized frequency; 1 versus 5 papers), followed by Basidiomycota and dermatophytosis (+0.06 each; 1 versus 4). Species delimitation and azole resistance each climbed +0.06 (from 0 to 3 papers), while Trichophyton indotineae rose +0.04 (2 versus 4) and multigene phylogeny and biological control each gained +0.04 (1 versus 3). The topic evolution card underscores that Class of 2026 bars extend furthest for Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, dermatophytosis, Trichophyton indotineae, azole resistance, species delimitation, and terbinafine resistance—topics aligned with phylogenetic revision, dermatophyte outbreaks, and antifungal resistance monitoring. Conversely, convolutional neural network (−0.20; 0.30 to 0.10) and data augmentation (−0.06; 0.12 to 0.06) receded sharply among the most-cited concept set, alongside modest declines in ResNet-50 (−0.04) and biocontrol agents (−0.02). Together, these shifts suggest that the most-cited 2024 papers emphasize fungal classification, drug-resistant dermatophytes, and biological control over the computer-vision-heavy profile that dominated the prior cohort.

How topics shifted year over year
How topics shifted year over year
Methodology

PRI identifies high-impact research using a transparent, topic-agnostic framework applied consistently across scientific domains. Bibliographic records are drawn from OpenAlex, including publication dates, citation relationships, and document types.

This ranking covers the Class of 2026 cohort: journal articles published in 2024. Reviews and other non-article document types are excluded to ensure comparability.

Research impact is quantified with an 18-month post-publication citation window—the number of citing works published within 18 months of each paper's publication date. This metric captures early impact while controlling for publication age.

An LLM-based relevance classifier then reviews each candidate's title and abstract to confirm substantive alignment with the target domain. Only papers classified as relevant appear in the final ranking.

Zheng Su, Tinsley Li, Thematic Shifts in Early-High-Impact Cancer Genomics and Diagnostics Research: A Bibliometric and Semantic Analysis. bioRxiv 2026.07.04.736459; doi: https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.07.04.736459

Full methodologyGitHubbioRxiv preprint

Cite this ranking

Pepkio Research Index (PRI). Topics and Trends in Most Cited Plant Pathogens and Fungal Diseases Papers, Class of 2026. https://pri.pepkio.com/top-papers/plant-pathogens-and-fungal-diseases/2026. Accessed 2026-07-14.

Zheng Su, Tinsley Li, Thematic Shifts in Early-High-Impact Cancer Genomics and Diagnostics Research: A Bibliometric and Semantic Analysis. bioRxiv 2026.07.04.736459; doi: https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.07.04.736459