diff --git a/go/vt/vttablet/tabletserver/planbuilder/dml.go b/go/vt/vttablet/tabletserver/planbuilder/dml.go
index 5e67140fa72..fa8de26171e 100644
--- a/go/vt/vttablet/tabletserver/planbuilder/dml.go
+++ b/go/vt/vttablet/tabletserver/planbuilder/dml.go
@@ -317,10 +317,20 @@ func analyzeInsert(ins *sqlparser.Insert, tables map[string]*schema.Table) (plan
 		return plan, nil
 	}
 	tableName := sqlparser.GetTableName(ins.Table)
-	if tableName.IsEmpty() {
+	switch {
+	case tableName.IsTopic():
+		msgTables := getTopicTables()
+		for _, t := range msgTables {
+			// recursively run inserts
+		}
+		plan.Reason = ReasonTopic
+		return plan, nil
+
+	case tableName.IsEmpty():
 		plan.Reason = ReasonTable
 		return plan, nil
 	}
+
 	table, tableErr := plan.setTable(tableName, tables)
 
 	switch {
diff --git a/go/vt/vttablet/tabletserver/planbuilder/plan.go b/go/vt/vttablet/tabletserver/planbuilder/plan.go
index 65aa41c71a1..8522f27d4ae 100644
--- a/go/vt/vttablet/tabletserver/planbuilder/plan.go
+++ b/go/vt/vttablet/tabletserver/planbuilder/plan.go
@@ -154,6 +154,7 @@ const (
 	ReasonReplace
 	ReasonMultiTable
 	NumReasons
+	ReasonTopic
 )
 
 // Must exactly match order of reason constants.
diff --git a/go/vt/vttablet/tabletserver/schema/engine.go b/go/vt/vttablet/tabletserver/schema/engine.go
index 65ad2dc0961..b9cebae9613 100644
--- a/go/vt/vttablet/tabletserver/schema/engine.go
+++ b/go/vt/vttablet/tabletserver/schema/engine.go
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@ type Engine struct {
 	mu         sync.Mutex
 	isOpen     bool
 	tables     map[string]*Table
+	topics     map[string][]*Table
 	lastChange int64
 	reloadTime time.Duration
 	notifiers  map[string]notifier
@@ -166,6 +167,9 @@ func (se *Engine) Open() error {
 				// Skip over the table that had an error and move on to the next one
 				return
 			}
+			// register the message topic on the engine if necessary
+			se.registerTopic(table)
+
 			table.SetMysqlStats(row[4], row[5], row[6], row[7], row[8])
 			mu.Lock()
 			tables[tableName] = table
@@ -336,6 +340,10 @@ func (se *Engine) tableWasCreatedOrAltered(ctx context.Context, tableName string
 		tabletenv.InternalErrors.Add("Schema", 1)
 		return vterrors.Errorf(vtrpcpb.Code_UNKNOWN, "tableWasCreatedOrAltered: failed to load table %s: %v", tableName, err)
 	}
+
+	// register the message topic on the engine if necessary
+	se.registerTopic(table)
+
 	// table_rows, data_length, index_length, max_data_length
 	table.SetMysqlStats(row[4], row[5], row[6], row[7], row[8])
 
@@ -355,6 +363,32 @@ func (se *Engine) tableWasCreatedOrAltered(ctx context.Context, tableName string
 	return nil
 }
 
+// registerTopic optionally connects the vt_topic metadata on a message table
+// to a map of topic strings. A table can belong to only one topic.
+func (se *Engine) registerTopic(ta *Table) {
+	if ta.MessageInfo == nil || ta.MessageInfo.Topic == "" {
+		return
+	}
+
+	// lazily initialize the topic map if necessary
+	if se.topics == nil {
+		se.topics = make(map[string][]*Table)
+	}
+
+	msgTables, ok := se.topics[ta.MessageInfo.Topic]
+	if ok {
+		//  check to see if this table is already registered to the topic
+		for _, t := range msgTables {
+			if t == ta {
+				return
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	// append this table to the list of subscribed tables to the topic
+	se.topics[ta.MessageInfo.Topic] = append(se.topics[ta.MessageInfo.Topic], ta)
+}
+
 // RegisterNotifier registers the function for schema change notification.
 // It also causes an immediate notification to the caller. The notified
 // function must not change the map or its contents. The only exception
diff --git a/go/vt/vttablet/tabletserver/schema/load_table.go b/go/vt/vttablet/tabletserver/schema/load_table.go
index 3257af030d0..4fbdf02866d 100644
--- a/go/vt/vttablet/tabletserver/schema/load_table.go
+++ b/go/vt/vttablet/tabletserver/schema/load_table.go
@@ -157,6 +157,12 @@ func loadMessageInfo(ta *Table, comment string) error {
 		keyvals[kv[0]] = kv[1]
 	}
 	var err error
+	if ta.MessageInfo.Topic, err = getString(keyvals, "vt_topic"); err != nil {
+		// the topic is an optional value
+		if err.Error() != "attribute vt_topic not specified for message table" {
+			return err
+		}
+	}
 	if ta.MessageInfo.AckWaitDuration, err = getDuration(keyvals, "vt_ack_wait"); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -239,3 +245,11 @@ func getNum(in map[string]string, key string) (int, error) {
 	}
 	return v, nil
 }
+
+func getString(in map[string]string, key string) (string, error) {
+	sv := in[key]
+	if sv == "" {
+		return 0, fmt.Errorf("attribute %s not specified for message table", key)
+	}
+	return sv, nil
+}
diff --git a/go/vt/vttablet/tabletserver/schema/schema.go b/go/vt/vttablet/tabletserver/schema/schema.go
index 5e11e33ceab..7e16b7548fb 100644
--- a/go/vt/vttablet/tabletserver/schema/schema.go
+++ b/go/vt/vttablet/tabletserver/schema/schema.go
@@ -99,6 +99,10 @@ type MessageInfo struct {
 	// returned for subscribers.
 	Fields []*querypb.Field
 
+	// Optional topic to subscribe to. Any messages
+	// published to the topic will be added to this table.
+	Topic string
+
 	// AckWaitDuration specifies how long to wait after
 	// the message was first sent. The back-off doubles
 	// every attempt.