A review on molecular mechanisms of beneficial plant-microbe interactions

Molecular mechanisms modulating beneficial plant root-microbe interactions: What’s common?

In the frame of the COST Action “ROOT-BENEFIT” (CA22142) from the European Cooperation in Science and Technology, Florian Frugier from IPS2 coordinated the writing of a European collaborative review, published in Plant Communications, summarizing our current knowledge on the molecular mechanisms controlling different beneficial plant root-microbe interactions, namely arbuscular mycorrhiza, the rhizobium-legume symbiosis, ectomycorrhiza, as well as fungal and bacterial endophytic associations. The authors notably highlight what are the main shared mechanisms, as well as the knowledge gaps, with a special focus on the signaling pathways required for microbes to be recognized as beneficial, the metabolic pathways that provide nutritional benefits to the plant, and the regulatory pathways modulating the extent of the symbiosis establishment depending on soil nutrient availability and plant needs. By summarizing this knowledge, this review aims to promote the move from an intensive chemically-synthesized fertilizers- and pesticides-based agriculture towards the use of plant-microbe beneficial interactions in the frame of a more sustainable agriculture.

Plants establish beneficial interactions with both fungi and bacterial microbes that they attract from the soil rhizosphere by producing signalling molecules under conditions of nutritional deficiency. (A) arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis, (B) nitrogen-fixing rhizobial nodulation symbiosis, (C) other beneficial plant-fungi interactions, such as the ectomycorrhizal symbiosis (ECM) and the association with Trichoderma or Mucoromycotina ‘fine root endophytes’ (MFRE), (D) interactions with Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR) Figure generated using BioRender (https://biorender.com/).

27/08/2025