Plant immunity: Good fences make good neighbors?

Plant immunity is modulated by several abiotic factors, and microbiome has emerged as a major biotic driver of plant resistance. Recently, a few studies showed that plants also modify resistance to pests and pathogens in their neighborhood. Several types of neighborhood could be identified depending on the biological processes at play: intraspecific and interspecific competition, kin and stranger recognition, plant-soil feedbacks, and danger signaling. This review highlights that molecules exchanged aboveground and below ground between plants can modulate plant immunity, either constitutively or after damage or attack. An intriguing relationship between allelopathy and immunity has been evidenced and should merit further investigation. Interestingly, most reported cases of modulation of immunity by the neighbors are positive, opening new perspectives for the understanding of natural plant communities as well as for the design of more diverse cultivated systems.

Automated summary

Plant immunity is influenced by various abiotic factors, with the microbiome playing a crucial role as a biotic driver of plant resistance. Plants have been shown to adjust their resistance to pests and pathogens in response to neighboring plants. The exchange of molecules between plants can modulate plant immunity, and the allelopathy relationship with immunity warrants further investigation. Most cases of immunity modulation by neighbors have been positive, offering new perspectives for natural plant communities and diverse cultivated systems.