REVIEW article
Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Plant Symbiotic Interactions
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2025.1686819
This article is part of the Research TopicUnraveling Plant Stress Complexity: Interactions and Communication in Molecular, Signaling, and Microbiome Networks Under Multiple StressorsView all articles
Whispers beneath the soil: soybean-microbe communication pathways in the rhizosphere
Provisionally accepted
- 1School of Life Sciences and Centre for Soybean Research of the State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong, SAR China
- 2Institute of Environment, Energy and Sustainability, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong, Hong Kong, SAR China
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The rhizosphere is a dynamic ecosystem that hosts diverse microbial communities, essential for nutrient cycling, and promoting plant health and resistance to environmental stresses and pathogens. Understanding the communication strategies between plant roots and these microbial communities is vital for sustainable agriculture, as these interactions can enhance crop resilience and productivity while reducing the need for chemical fertilizers. Extensive research has focused on how soybean plants shape the rhizosphere microbiota and the signaling processes that promote these interactions; however, many influencing factors, particularly environmental stresses, remain unexplored. Key elements, including soybean genetics, growth development stages, soil properties, agricultural practices, and environmental conditions, all play crucial roles in shaping microbial symbioses. This review examines the intricate interactions between soybean and their rhizospheric microbiota, emphasizing how various stresses affect these relationships. It also discusses the role of secondary metabolites from both microbes and soybean in facilitating communication, alongside other factors that significantly influence these microbial interactions and soybean productivity.
Keywords: Soybean, Rhizospheric microbiota, sustainable agriculture, secondary metabolites, Microbiota assembly, Environmental stresses
Received: 16 Aug 2025; Accepted: 29 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Cheng, Contador, Zhang, Ho and Lam. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Hon-Ming Lam, honming@cuhk.edu.hk
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