Changes in Root Exudate Composition Drive the Evolution of Their Ecological Functions Towards Improved Chemical Defense and Plant-Microbe Interactions.

Root exudates of 20 woody species become richer and more chemically complex with plant divergence time, with fungal richness and copiotrophic bacterial enrichment increasing alongside.

• Why it matters: It remains unclear how root exudate chemistry changes across plant evolutionary time and how those shifts relate to root traits and rhizosphere microbiota.
• What they did: Root exudate composition was measured across 20 woody species and linked to root traits and rhizosphere microbiota, testing associations across divergence time and between ectomycorrhizal (EcM) versus arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) trees.
• The result: In EcM trees, competitive root traits correlate with exudate richness and chemical complexity and exudate–microbe coupling is tighter than in AM trees, suggesting evolved chemical defense and rhizosphere communication.

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