Rhizophagy (root eating) Cycle - refers to a process where the plants actively "eat" beneficial soil microbes (bacteria and fungi) by drawing them into their root cells, extracting nutrients from them, then releasing the digested microbes back into the soil, allowing them to repopulate and repeat the cycle. 

Microbial endophytes are often functional in that they carry the nutrients from the soil to the plants, modulate plant development, increase stress tolerance of plants, suppress virulence in pathogens, and increase disease resistance.