The cry for help: How plants orchestrate interactions with the rhizosphere microbiome

Abstract

Plants face numerous challenges throughout their lifecycle, from nutrient deficiencies to pathogen attacks. To navigate these challenges, plants developed complex defense mechanisms. One crucial ally in this is the rhizosphere microbiome. This review explores the intricate relationship between plants and their rhizosphere microbes, elucidating the mechanisms by which plants recruit and benefit from the microbial allies following pathogen infection. Plants utilize various signaling compounds upon pathogen attack, effectively crying out for help and with that attract beneficial microbes to their roots. These beneficial microbes are able to respond to these stress induced signals via chemotaxis which allow them to colonize the roots in two different stages, establishing a permanent position at the root surface. Once established, beneficial microbes utilize sophisticated strategies to interact with the plant host. First these strategies are aimed to evade or suppress the plant immune responses. Followed by mechanisms that allows beneficial microbes to provide plants with different beneficial effects, like better nutrient uptake, growth promotion and pathogen control.