With recent advances in high resolution/throughput bioimaging we are gaining new insights into the cell biology mechanisms and pathways of plant cell interactions with diverse microbes. Therefore the symposium provides a timely and important opportunity to overview the application of these technologies to plant–microbe interactions, and to discuss recent discoveries emerging from diverse host–microbe interactions illustrating common underlying principles and differences of strategies used by the microbes to gain access to plant tissues/cells. The symposium will certainly trigger a wealth of discussions, exchange of findings and methodologies, and will promote new lines of research and ideas in this rapidly expanding field.