AUTHOR=Bonkowski Michael , Tarkka Mika , Razavi Bahar S. , Schmidt Hannes , Blagodatskaya Evgenia , Koller Robert , Yu Peng , Knief Claudia , Hochholdinger Frank , Vetterlein Doris TITLE=Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Maize (Zea mays L.) Root Growth and Its Potential Consequences for the Assembly of the Rhizosphere Microbiota JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology VOLUME=12 YEAR=2021 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2021.619499 DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2021.619499 ISSN=1664-302X ABSTRACT=

Numerous studies have shown that plants selectively recruit microbes from the soil to establish a complex, yet stable and quite predictable microbial community on their roots – their “microbiome.” Microbiome assembly is considered as a key process in the self-organization of root systems. A fundamental question for understanding plant-microbe relationships is where a predictable microbiome is formed along the root axis and through which microbial dynamics the stable formation of a microbiome is challenged. Using maize as a model species for which numerous data on dynamic root traits are available, this mini-review aims to give an integrative overview on the dynamic nature of root growth and its consequences for microbiome assembly based on theoretical considerations from microbial community ecology.