Climate-induced metabolic rewiring in plants: Impact on plant secondary metabolism and microbiome interactions

Fluctuating climate is an important factor that affects plant secondary metabolism and the plant microbiome. Environmental conditions, such as fluctuating CO₂ levels, temperature and precipitation patterns, forced plants to adapt, leading to altered metabolic pathways. Simultaneously, climate-induced stress can reshape the plant microbiome, which disturbs plant growth, resilience, and even the efficacy of SMs. The interplay between climate change, plant metabolism, and the microbiome is complex, yet this relationship remains largely underexplored. Understanding how these factors co-evolve under shifting environmental conditions could unveil novel strategies for improving crop resilience, optimizing the production of bioactive compounds, and enhancing sustainable agricultural practices in the face of global climate challenges. This review explains how climate change influences the synthesis of secondary metabolism and the microbiome of the plant through transcriptional regulation networks and mechanisms underlying these responses. Moreover, the paper addresses different climate change mitigation strategies.