The root of Abutilon theophrasti (Herbiseed, Twyford, UK) can be colonized by a facultative microbial community composed of several fungi and bacteria with Actinomucor elegans as a dominant species. The yeast Papiliotrema baii, a recently described novel fungal species and the bacterium Pantoea ananatis have key functions in the elimination and detoxification of hydroxylated benzoxazolinones by polymerization processes at the root surface. Several enzymes are involved in these root surface reactions, sincluding laccases and peroxidases. H2O2 is produced mainly by the yeast, providing a substrate for peroxidases. BOA-OH polymers precipitate at the root surfaces, forming black or brownish colouring of the epidermis, which has no obvious negative influence on the root growth. Roots with laccase produced a root surface covered by glycolipids produced by Pantoea ananatis. Depending on environmental conditions, including the availability of nitrate/nitrite in the rhizosphere, Pantoea ananatis transforms BOA-6-OH to a new, hitherto unknown nitro aromatic compound, which presents the first intermediate of a catabolic sequence. The entire micro-community is also able to degrade DIBOA and DIMBOA completely. The plant detoxification product BOA-6-O-glucoside and the BOA-OH derived bacterial compounds can all be found at the root surface or in the rhizosphere, but their presence and relative concentrations depend on environmental conditions. Shifts in activity of various biosynthetic pathways are likely and are thought to occur opportunistically. The results provide new insights in plant-microbe interspecies cooperation that assist plants in protecting against the presence of harmful allelochemicals. Those plant-microbe interactions, assumed to exist more commonly than previously thought, may help to explain the oft observed lack of sensitivity of certain plant species against allelochemicals. Such cooperations among plants and microbes may suggest a new field of research in allelopathic interactions in the rhizosphere.