Steering Soil Microbiomes to Suppress Aboveground Insect Pests

Abstract

Soil-borne microbes affect aboveground herbivorous insects through a cascade of molecular and chemical changes in the plant, but knowledge of these microbe-plant-insect interactions is mostly limited to one or a few microbial strains. Yet, the soil microbial community comprises thousands of unique taxa interacting in complex networks, the so-called 'microbiome', which provides plants with multiple beneficial functions. There has been little exploration of the role and management of whole microbiomes in plant-insect interactions, calling for the integration of this complexity in aboveground-belowground research. Here, we propose holistic approaches to select soil microbiomes that can be used to protect plants from aboveground attackers.

Keywords: herbivores; induced resistance; insects; microbe–plant–insect interactions; phytobiomes; plant–soil feedbacks.