Abiotic Stress Reshapes Rhizosphere Community Assembly and Tea Quality: Root Exudates, Plant-Soil Interactions and...

Abiotic stresses affect the growth of tea plants (Camellia sinensis) and reduce their yield and quality. The tea plant is a perennial crop. Its adaptability to abiotic stresses and the formation of quality depend not only on internal physiological regulation, but also on long-term interactions with the surrounding soil environment. However, how abiotic stresses reshape the tea rhizosphere community structure, and the knowledge of how these changes shape tea quality remains limited. This review summarizes current knowledge on the tea rhizosphere microbiome under abiotic stress. First, we examine how stress reshapes microbial communities, including their composition, metabolic functions, interaction networks, and the recruitment driven by root exudates. Second, we explore the mechanism of rhizosphere microorganisms affecting tea plants, including participation in nutrient cycling, interaction mediated by exudates, and the regulation of secondary metabolic pathways related to the quality of tea. Finally, we discuss several nutrient-based and microbiome-based management strategies, such as the use of combined fertilizer, intercropping, PGPR, AMF, and SynComs. This review connects stress physiology, rhizosphere ecology, and tea quality regulation within a microbiome-centered framework, providing a basis for strategies that enhance stress tolerance and tea quality stability in the tea plant.