Enhanced CO2 Coordinates the Spatial Recruitment of Diazotrophs in Rice Via Root Development.

ABSTRACT Understanding the reciprocal interaction between root development and coadapted beneficial microbes in response to elevated CO2 (eCO2) will facilitate the identification of nutrient‐efficient cultivars for sustainable agriculture.Here, systematic morphological, anatomical, chemical and gene expression assays performed under low‐nitrogen conditions revealed that eCO2 drove the development of the endodermal barrier with respect to L‐/S‐shaped lateral roots (LRs) in rice.Next, we applied metabolome and endodermal‐cell‐specific RNA sequencing and showed that rice adapts to eCO2 by spatially recruiting diazotrophs via flavonoid secretion in L‐shaped LRs. Using the rice Casparian strip mutant <italic>Oscasp1‐1</italic>, we confirmed that reduced lignin deposition selectively recruits the diazotrophic family of <italic>Oxalobacteraceae</italic> to confer tolerance to low nitrogen availability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]