Host-associated microbiomes often display host specificity and heritability, yet the evolutionary processes under which such structured communities...

Mycorrhizal strategy could be one of the factors that explain why certain non-native species become successful invaders. This study tests this idea at the global scale and explores geographic patterns...

Rising climate and local pressures increase the risk of regime shifts, yet despite progress, thresholds remain difficult to identify early enough to take action. We argue that this shortfall reflects ...

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Medicinal plants link agriculture, ecosystem health, and human therapeutics, with bioactive compound profiles providing a direct and economically meaningful readout of microbiome function. Although mi...

Nature Reviews Biodiversity, Published online: 20 April 2026; doi:10.1038/s44358-026-00152-2This issue launches the Roadmap article format, with articles that chart a path forward on important topics in biodiversity science.

Microbiomes perform critical functions for their hosts, and understanding microbiome variation is important for both basic and applied science. However, host traits alone cannot explain the entirety o...

Nature Plants - The return of spring is an excellent occasion to celebrate the secondary metabolites that are the basis for the wonderfully diverse aromas and tastes of plants, which are used for...

The integration of SEM with observational wildlife datasets from passive detectors can lead to a step change in the scope, richness and robustness of insights about food webs, ecosystem functioning a...

A long-standing hypothesis of microbial ecology is that simple patterns might persist despite community complexity or even emerge because of it. However, the concept of “emergent simplicity” remains partly intuitive. Here, we defined emergent ...

Ectomycorrhizal fungi (EMF) produce mycelia with variable extension and complexity, which can be classified according to soil ‘exploration types’ (ETs). ETs have received attention as one of the few.....

Understanding microbial communities requires moving beyond 2D representations toward a holistic view that couples 3D spatial organization with ecological function, integrating microbial inventories, g...

Nature Ecology & Evolution - A dated phylogeny of 16,585 vascular plant species native to China reveals three major centres of endemism, including a potential new global biodiversity hotspot.

Plant immunity should be reconsidered beyond the boundaries of the plant genome. We propose that the rhizosphere microbiome may function analogously to a decentralized immune system, contributing adaptive defenselike properties and memory effects. In this forum article, we discuss how this perspective reframes immunity as an emergent property of plant–microbiome interactions, shifting the focus from a solitary host toward an integrated holobiont.

Plant roots form a microbiome that interacts at the cell wall extracellular matrix before entering the cell. The root primary and accessory walls present a dynamic, cell-type-dependent scaffold that m...

Plants constantly form associations with microorganisms, and some are vital for plant performance, especially under stress conditions. Although some microorganisms have been developed into commercial ...

Chemical communication is the oldest and most widespread form of signalling among and within organisms. Among the many compounds involved in such communication, pyrazines – nitrogen-containing hetero...

While root nodule symbiosis (RNS) is primarily recognized for nitrogen acquisition, it is heavily influenced by phosphorus levels. In natural agroecosystems, nitrogen limitation frequently co-occurs with phosphorus deficiency, yet the role of phosphorus in modulating RNS remains understudied. Recent research in the legume Phaseolus vulgaris shows that phosphorus starvation suppresses nodulation by downregulating the master regulator gene Nodule Inception, mediated by phosphate-responsive factors such as Phosphate Starvation Response-Like 7. We propose an integrated model where phosphate signaling functions as a metabolic checkpoint, balancing carbon availability, nitrogen demand, and phosphorus status. Elucidating how phosphate scarcity rewires these symbiotic gene networks is essential for sustainable agriculture, allowing for the optimization of symbiotic nitrogen fixation in nutrient-depleted environments.

Medicinal plants used by ethnic minorities in China—those documented in Chinese medicinal plant knowledge systems and sustaining culturally unique healing traditions, yet systematically marginalized i...

Nature Reviews Microbiology, Published online: 11 March 2026; doi:10.1038/s41579-026-01290-2In this Review, Singh and colleagues discuss the impacts of key climate extremes on soil-borne pathogens, plant microbiomes and host physiology that ultimately determine disease outcomes, as well as the eco-evolutionary mechanisms by which pathogens, hosts and microbiomes may adapt to climate extremes. Finally, they propose an integrated pathway for harnessing microbiomes to address the critical challenges posed by climate extremes.

The floral nectar in avocado hosts microbes with anti-pathogenic activity and probiotic properties in a model plant species.