Root-exuded benzoxazinoids can alleviate negative plant-soil feedbacks

Plants can suppress the growth of other plants by modifying soil properties. These negative plant-soil feedbacks are often species-specific, suggesting that some plants possess resistance strategies. However, the underlying mechanisms remain largely unknown. Here, we investigated if and how benzoxazinoids, a class of dominant secondary metabolites that are exuded into the soil by maize and other cereals, influence plant-soil feedbacks. We find that three out of five tested crop species suppress maize (Zea mays) performance via negative plant-soil feedbacks relative to the mean across species. This effect is partially alleviated by the capacity of maize plants to produce benzoxazinoids. Soil complementation with purified benzoxazinoids is sufficient to restore the protective effect for benzoxazinoid-deficient mutants. Sterilization and re-inoculation experiments suggest that benzoxazinoid-mediated protection acts via changes in soil biota. Substantial variation of the protective effect b..., , , # Data from: Root-exuded benzoxazinoids can alleviate negative plant-soil feedbacks

This repository contains the data for the article published in New Phytologist:
Root-exuded benzoxazinoids can alleviate negative plant-soil feedbacks
Valentin Gfeller, Lisa Thoenen, Matthias Erb

## Description of the data and file structure

All data sheets are named according to the figures in the manuscript.

Description of the column names:

Fig.1

* \"pre_crop\" and \"Pre_crop_long\" = the name of the precrop
* \"trt\" = maize genotype (\"w\" = wild-type maize, \"b\" = bx1 mutant maize)
* \"height_harvest\" = shoot height in cm
* \"dw_harvest\" = shoot dry weight in g
* \"compound\" = name of compound measured
* \"Area\" = area under the curve for a given compound
* \"conc\" = concentration of a given compound in ng/mL of soil

Fig.2

* \"maize_line\" = the name of the maize line (B73 or W22)
* \"soil\" = origin of the soil (Field Q-Matte or field in Changins)
* \"trt\" = maize genotype (\"w\" = wild-ty...