From feedbacks to functional teams in the rhizosphere

Trends Microbiol. 2026 Jan;34(1):13-14. doi: 10.1016/j.tim.2025.11.013. Epub 2025 Nov 29.

Abstract

Johnson and Marín's paper presents functional team selection (FTS) as a major conceptual advance in plant-microbiome ecology. FTS explains how limiting resources and/or stress selects cooperative microbial teams that promote plant adaptation, integrating ecological feedback and evolutionary selection to predict when and where resilient plant-microbiome partnerships will arise.

MeSH terms

  • Microbiota*
  • Plant Roots* / microbiology
  • Plants* / microbiology
  • Rhizosphere*
  • Soil Microbiology*
  • Symbiosis