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Updated: Aug 15, 2026

Inoculation Strategies to Infect Plant Roots with Soil-Borne Microorganisms
Published on: March 1, 2022
Beyond the root: microbial partners extend plant metabolic pathways to mobilize iron
Abdullah Shalmani1, Ricardo F H Giehl1
1Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics & Crop Plant Research (IPK) OT Gatersleben, Corrensstr. 3, 06466 Seeland, Germany.
None:
Under iron (Fe)-limiting conditions, Arabidopsis thaliana roots secrete coumarins, phenylpropanoid-derived secondary metabolites that can mobilize sparingly available Fe and shape the composition of the root-associated microbiome. Recent studies show that microbial partners can act on root-secreted coumarins to produce forms with higher Fe-mobilization capacity. Besides providing a mechanistic understanding of the positive interaction of soil microbiota to improved plant Fe nutrition, these findings provide new evidence that the functional boundaries of plant metabolic pathways extend into the rhizosphere.
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