Quantifying microbiota impact on plant traits for the guidance of breeding programs

Understanding the drivers of plant phenotypic variation is central to crop improvement. Root-associated microbiota are increasingly recognized as important drivers of plant growth and disease resistance, yet their quantitative contribution to phenotypic variation remains unclear. Here, we extend the classical genotype–environment framework by explicitly incorporating soil microbiota as a distinct factor. By combining contrasting genotypes, soil matrices and microbiota in a full-factorial experim