Abstract:
Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are subcellular carriers of bioactive compounds
with a complex array of functional effects on target cells. In mammals, circulating bodily
fluid microbiota EVs (mbEVs) deliver cargo from source cells and adversely or favorably
alter the physiology of the same source, neighboring, and distant recipient cells in an
autocrine, paracrine, or endocrine fashion, respectively. Plant mbEVs may similarly mediate these interactive effects within the holobiont framework. However, the majority of
plant EV research has focused on a small number of individual microbes, thus failing to reflect the importance of EVs in a community and consequently leaving a
wide gap in scientific knowledge. Addressing this gap should entail a systemslevel approach that combines vesicle characterization with microbiome analyses.
This would certainly usher in a new age in microbial biotechnology entailing EVs
as a microbiome manipulation strategy, a biomarker for stable microbiomes, and
a diagnostic tool for plant infectious diseases.
