Biotic and abiotic changes of soil properties (e.g. physical, chemical and biotic) caused by a plant affect the growth of other plant species within the same communities, reshape the competitive relationship between different species, and restructure the dynamic changes of species composition. The feedback between plant and soil has become an important concept for explaining the diversity, stability, dynamics and succession of plant communities. Its process and mechanism are also key scientific issues to understand the responses of terrestrial ecosystems to global changes. However, biotic factors, in particular soil microbes mediated plant-soil feedback are still poorly understood. These changes in key microbial groups, such as arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and soil pathogens may increase or decrease the plant growth, resulting in positive or negative plant-soil feedbacks. In the early successional stage or during exotic plant invasion, host plants preferentially utilizing abundant soil nutrients have low dependence on the AMF and are less affected by native pathogens. Generally, there is no negative feedback. In the late successional stage, as the nutrients are being depleted, AMF help host plants with better access to soil nutrients and increased resistance to stress and pathogens, which could generate positive feedback and potentially accelerate succession. However, the accumulated pathogens can generate negative feedback and contribute to plant species coexistence and diversity, and thus improved productivity and stability of grassland. The study of microbial feedbacks on plant community dynamic is not only helpful to improve the theory of grassland degradation and restoration, but also instructive to the practice of restoration and management of degraded grassland. In the future, the key issues of plant-microbe feedback in grassland community succession were suggested as follows. (1)In experimental methods, it is necessary to test the net effect of obligate microbes dynamics on the plant succession using a fully reciprocal inoculation experiment which involves host-mediated differentiation of microbial communities and differential effects of the microbes on the plant fitness. (2)Regarding measurement indexes, further work quantizing the trade-off between the nutrient uptake and the carbon allocated to the microbes by host plant is needed. Comparing the ratios of nutrient benefit versus carbon cost between plants reciprocally inoculated with own and foreign microbial communities would enable us to evaluate functional variation between different microbes. (3)For research objects, the impacts of microbes on plant community structure require more empirical attention. In terms of application, the role of plant-microbe feedback on the restoration of degraded grassland is clarified to guide grassland management.