Figure 3.

(A,B) Beneficial outcomes and nutrient flow in the rhizophagy symbiosis. (A) Beneficial outcomes include: (i) Plants obtain nutrients from internalized microbes; (ii) Increased production of reactive oxygen in roots results in increased oxidative stress tolerance in plants; and (iii) Scavenging of nutrients from soil fungi by rhizophagy microbes results in reduced virulence of potential pathogens in the soil microbial community. (B) In terms of nutrient flow, rhizophagy microbes mediate between the plant and the soil microbial community, with photosynthate and other plant‐abundant nutrients flowing from plant roots to soil microbial community; rhizophagy microbes carry nutrients from the soil microbial community back to the plant.