Dynamics of soil microbiome and allelochemical interactions: an overview of current knowledge and prospects

Background: Plant rivalry primarily involves resource competition, where one plant extracts resources from its neighboring counterparts. Interference competition, in contrast, refers to a direct form of interference that obstructs access to resources and is common among animals capable of physical combat. In plants, one of the main manifestations of interference competition is allelopathy. Allelopathic plants exude cytotoxic substances into their environment to gain a competitive advantage over nearby plants when resources are scarce. Allelopathy occurs within complex soil ecosystems where microbes in the rhizosphere can break down, modify or boost the chemicals released by plants to modulate their effects. Nevertheless, the environmental and ecological factors that govern the production and persistence of allelochemicals remain poorly understood. Despite its evident ecological significance, allelopathy is rare among plants and the reasons behind its limited evolutionary development are not fully understood. Main body: This review critically examines the interactions between plant allelochemicals and soil microbiomes, reporting existing literature and highlighting both beneficial and detrimental relationships influencing allelochemicals. Furthermore, the review investigates novel methodologies, including metagenomics and stable isotope probing, that enhance our comprehension of these intricate interactions. Conclusion: A thorough understanding of how the chemical and physical characteristics of soil affect the stability and efficacy of allelochemicals over extended periods in real-world field scenarios is still lacking. Bridging this knowledge gap is essential for the advancement of sustainable agricultural practices that harness allelopathic interactions to improve crop resilience and enhance ecosystem stability.