Root exudate metabolites drive plant-soil feedbacks on growth and defense by shaping the rhizosphere microbiota

Lingfei Hu, Christelle A. M. Robert, Selma Cadot, Xi Zhang, Meng Ye, Beibei Li, Daniele Manzo, Noemie Chervet, Thomas Steinger, Marcel G. A. van der Heijden, Klaus Schlaeppi () and Matthias Erb ()
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Lingfei Hu: University of Bern
Christelle A. M. Robert: University of Bern
Selma Cadot: Agroscope
Xi Zhang: University of Bern
Meng Ye: University of Bern
Beibei Li: University of Bern
Daniele Manzo: University of Bern
Noemie Chervet: Agroscope
Thomas Steinger: Agroscope
Marcel G. A. van der Heijden: Agroscope
Klaus Schlaeppi: University of Bern
Matthias Erb: University of Bern

Nature Communications, 2018, vol. 9, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: Abstract By changing soil properties, plants can modify their growth environment. Although the soil microbiota is known to play a key role in the resulting plant-soil feedbacks, the proximal mechanisms underlying this phenomenon remain unknown. We found that benzoxazinoids, a class of defensive secondary metabolites that are released by roots of cereals such as wheat and maize, alter root-associated fungal and bacterial communities, decrease plant growth, increase jasmonate signaling and plant defenses, and suppress herbivore performance in the next plant generation. Complementation experiments demonstrate that the benzoxazinoid breakdown product 6-methoxy-benzoxazolin-2-one (MBOA), which accumulates in the soil during the conditioning phase, is both sufficient and necessary to trigger the observed phenotypic changes. Sterilization, fungal and bacterial profiling and complementation experiments reveal that MBOA acts indirectly by altering root-associated microbiota. Our results reveal a mechanism by which plants determine the composition of rhizosphere microbiota, plant performance and plant-herbivore interactions of the next generation.

Date: 2018
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-05122-7

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