Herbivory-triggered assemblage of sunflower rhizosphere microbiome enhances herbivore tolerance through plant–soil feedback

Herbivory-triggered assemblage of sunflower rhizosphere microbiome enhances herbivore tolerance through plant–soil feedback | bioRxiv Skip to main content Home About Submit ALERTS / RSS Search for this keyword Advanced Search New Results Herbivory-triggered assemblage of sunflower rhizosphere microbiome enhances herbivore tolerance through plant–soil feedback View ORCID Profile PM Rodríguez-Blanco , View ORCID Profile G Zitlalpopoca-Hernández , MG González Holgado , I Fernández , View ORCID Profile A Ossowicki , View ORCID Profile VJ Carrión , View ORCID Profile L Carro , View ORCID Profile A Martínez-Medina doi: https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.01.28.701931 PM Rodríguez-Blanco 1 Institute of Natural Resources and Agrobiology of Salamanca (IRNASA-CSIC) , Salamanca, Spain 2 Molecular Agroecology Laboratory (MOLECOLAB), Department of Soil and Plant Microbiology , Estación Experimental del Zaidín (EEZ-CSIC), Granada, Spain 3 Departamento de Microbiología y Genética, Universidad de Salamanca , Salamanca, Spain Find this author on Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for this author on this site ORCID record for PM Rodríguez-Blanco G Zitlalpopoca-Hernández 2 Molecular Agroecology Laboratory (MOLECOLAB), Department of Soil and Plant Microbiology , Estación Experimental del Zaidín (EEZ-CSIC), Granada, Spain Find this author on Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for this author on this site ORCID record for G Zitlalpopoca-Hernández MG González Holgado 1 Institute of Natural Resources and Agrobiology of Salamanca (IRNASA-CSIC) , Salamanca, Spain Find this author on Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for this author on this site I Fernández 2 Molecular Agroecology Laboratory (MOLECOLAB), Department of Soil and Plant Microbiology , Estación Experimental del Zaidín (EEZ-CSIC), Granada, Spain Find this author on Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for this author on this site A Ossowicki 4 Departamento de Microbiología y Genética, Facultad de Ciencias, Campus Universitario de Teatinos s/n, Universidad de Málaga , Málaga, Spain 5 Departamento de Protección de Cultivos, Instituto de Hortofruticultura Subtropical y Mediterránea “La Mayora”, Campus Universitario de Teatinos, Universidad de Málaga-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (IHSM-UMA-CSIC) , Málaga, Spain Find this author on Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for this author on this site ORCID record for A Ossowicki VJ Carrión 4 Departamento de Microbiología y Genética, Facultad de Ciencias, Campus Universitario de Teatinos s/n, Universidad de Málaga , Málaga, Spain 5 Departamento de Protección de Cultivos, Instituto de Hortofruticultura Subtropical y Mediterránea “La Mayora”, Campus Universitario de Teatinos, Universidad de Málaga-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (IHSM-UMA-CSIC) , Málaga, Spain Find this author on Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for this author on this site ORCID record for VJ Carrión L Carro 3 Departamento de Microbiología y Genética, Universidad de Salamanca , Salamanca, Spain 6 Instituto de Investigación en Agrobiotecnología (CIALE), Universidad de Salamanca , Villamayor, Spain 7 Unidad Asociada Grupo de Interacción Planta-Microorganismo, Universidad de Salamanca-IRNASA-CSIC , Salamanca, Spain Find this author on Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for this author on this site ORCID record for L Carro A Martínez-Medina 2 Molecular Agroecology Laboratory (MOLECOLAB), Department of Soil and Plant Microbiology , Estación Experimental del Zaidín (EEZ-CSIC), Granada, Spain Find this author on Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for this author on this site ORCID record for A Martínez-Medina For correspondence: ainhoa.martinez{at}csic.es Abstract Full Text Info/History Metrics Supplementary material Preview PDF Abstract Background Microbial communities in the rhizosphere are key drivers of plant immunity, mediating plant responses to stress. Under specific stresses plants are capable of recruiting beneficial microorganisms into their rhizosphere with the potential to alleviate these stresses. Among these stresses, herbivorous pests remain a major agricultural challenge. Despite this, the impact of leaf herbivory on root-associated microbiomes, and how this impact can shape plant defense phenotypes are still understudied. In this study, our main objective was to determine the extent to which leaf herbivory affects the rhizosphere microbiome, and whether and how these herbivory-induced changes modulate plant defense phenotypes through plant-soil feedback. To that end, we designed a two-phase assay in which we challenged sunflower ( Helianthus annuus L. ) with Spodoptera exigua and later tested the effect of the microbial legacy after infestation on sunflower defense phenotype, considering resistance and tolerance as major drivers. Results We found that herbivory triggered significant changes in the bacteriome structure and dynamics, and microbiome functional profile, while effects on mycobiome were comparatively less pronounced. Under herbivory, several bacterial taxa and functional groups were enriched, the bacterial co-occurrence network was more complex and assembly processes were slightly more stochastic. Furthermore, after evaluating the plant-soil feedbacks of herbivory-induced microbiomes we observed no effect on plant resistance proxies such as herbivore growth and survival, and leaf phenolic and flavonoid content. We did observe differences on tolerance proxies, while plants grown on herbivore-challenged microbiome were overall smaller, the biomass loss to herbivory was significantly lower while the elemental nutrient content and photosynthetic pigments content was enhanced. Conclusions Our study demonstrates that insect herbivory by S.exigua reshapes sunflower rhizosphere microbiome and generates a soil legacy that promotes herbivory tolerance on subsequent plant generations. This highlights the broader potential of microbiome-mediated plant–soil feedbacks in shaping plant adaptation to herbivory. Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. Funder Information Declared MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and ‘ERDF A way of making Europe’ , PID2021-128318OA-I00 , PRE2022-101400 European Union , ERC-2023-COG: 101124883 MIMIR Copyright The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC 4.0 International license . Back to top Previous Next Posted January 30, 2026. Download PDF Supplementary Material Email Thank you for your interest in spreading the word about bioRxiv. NOTE: Your email address is requested solely to identify you as the sender of this article. Your Email * Your Name * Send To * Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas. You are going to email the following Herbivory-triggered assemblage of sunflower rhizosphere microbiome enhances herbivore tolerance through plant–soil feedback Message Subject (Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from bioRxiv Message Body (Your Name) thought you would like to see this page from the bioRxiv website. Your Personal Message CAPTCHA This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions. Share Herbivory-triggered assemblage of sunflower rhizosphere microbiome enhances herbivore tolerance through plant–soil feedback PM Rodríguez-Blanco , G Zitlalpopoca-Hernández , MG González Holgado , I Fernández , A Ossowicki , VJ Carrión , L Carro , A Martínez-Medina bioRxiv 2026.01.28.701931; doi: https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.01.28.701931 Share This Article: Copy Citation Tools Herbivory-triggered assemblage of sunflower rhizosphere microbiome enhances herbivore tolerance through plant–soil feedback PM Rodríguez-Blanco , G Zitlalpopoca-Hernández , MG González Holgado , I Fernández , A Ossowicki , VJ Carrión , L Carro , A Martínez-Medina bioRxiv 2026.01.28.701931; doi: https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.01.28.701931 Citation Manager Formats BibTeX Bookends EasyBib EndNote (tagged) EndNote 8 (xml) Medlars Mendeley Papers RefWorks Tagged Ref Manager RIS Zotero Tweet Widget Facebook Like Google Plus One Subject Area Plant Biology Subject Areas All Articles Animal Behavior and Cognition (8164) Biochemistry (19027) Bioengineering (15171) Bioinformatics (45807) Biophysics (22958) Cancer Biology (20247) Cell Biology (27493) Clinical Trials (138) Developmental Biology (14233) Ecology (21529) Epidemiology (2067) Evolutionary Biology (25940) Genetics (16436) Genomics (23978) Immunology (19175) Microbiology (43481) Molecular Biology (18481) Neuroscience (95833) Paleontology (717) Pathology (3064) Pharmacology and Toxicology (5253) Physiology (8339) Plant Biology (16378) Scientific Communication and Education (2123) Synthetic Biology (4675) Systems Biology (10449) Zoology (2436)

Related documents

• Investigating the eco‐evolutionary response of microbiomes to environmental change#684035
• Biochar-earthworm-plant interactions regulate soil organic carbon stabilization and Cd immobilization in vegetable and corn cropping system#374598
• Herbivory Affects Patterns of Plant Reproductive Effort and Seed Production#982854
• Soil Respiration Rates and Carbon Isotope Emissions under Differing Herbivory and Plant Diversity Treatments in a Restoration Prairie#452167
• Emergent insects as both prey and neonicotinoid vectors for aerial insectivores in prairie agroecosystems.#1135440