Archaea, tiny helpers of land plants

Archaea are members of most microbiomes. While archaea are highly abundant in extreme environments, they are less abundant and diverse in association with eukaryotic hosts.

Nevertheless, archaea are a substantial constituent of plant-associated ecosystems in the aboveground and belowground phytobiome. Only a few studies have investigated the role of archaea in plant health and its potential symbiosis in ecosystems. This review discusses recent progress in identifying how archaea contribute to plant traits such as growth, adaptation to abiotic stresses, and immune activation. We synthesized the most recent functional and molecular data on archaea, including root colonization and the volatile emission to activate plant systemic immunity. These data represent a paradigm shift in our understanding of plant-microbiota interactions.