Recently, the research group of Prof. Yi Song at the School of Life Sciences, Southern University of Science and Technology, published a research article titled “Identification of stress-alleviating strains from the core drought-responsive microbiome of Arabidopsis ecotypes” in The ISME Journal, a leading journal in the field of microbial ecology.
Based on the screening of 130 Arabidopsis ecotypes from around the world, the study identified the existence of a core drought-responsive microbiome in plant roots. By conducting re-inoculation experiments using individual strains and synthetic microbial consortia, the team verified the drought-protective effects of core microbiome members and further elucidated the protective mechanisms of representative strains.
During the experiment, the JIUPO plant growth chamber was used for seedling cultivation. This study provides a paradigm for researching core stress-resilient plant microbiomes and offers theoretical guidance for enhancing plant drought resistance and resilience through microbiome-based technologies.
The researchers first selected 130 geographically representative natural Arabidopsis thaliana ecotypes for preliminary and secondary drought tolerance screenings. They compared the microbiome-mediated effects on plant drought protection and identified ecotypes with extreme drought tolerance and sensitivity, followed by microbiome community analysis. The results showed significant differences in the root microbiomes of ecotypes with varying drought tolerance levels, but only under drought conditions. Compared to drought-sensitive ecotypes, the drought-tolerant ones showed a greater number of differentially abundant phyla and genera under drought treatment, with a tendency to enrich fewer but more abundant microbial taxa.
Through co-occurrence network analysis and comparisons of root microbiomes across ecotypes (using NetShift), the team identified 12 genera as the key microbial drivers in roots under drought conditions. At the species level, a core group of drought-induced and enriched microbial members was identified (consistently enriched across different ecotypes under drought).
Strain isolation and inoculation experiments (both in vitro and in soil) confirmed that microbes highly enriched in drought-tolerant ecotypes exhibited stronger drought-protective effects compared to those from drought-sensitive ecotypes. Furthermore, the study revealed that under drought stress, the core drought-responsive microbe Massilia sp. 22G3 primarily influences the expression of genes related to root water transport and uptake, thereby enhancing drought adaptation. This clarified the molecular basis by which core drought-protective probiotics improve plant stress resistance.
a. Geographical distribution of the 130 representative Arabidopsis ecotype populations used in this study
b. Map showing the distribution and precipitation levels of 10 extreme drought-tolerant and drought-sensitive ecotypes
The corresponding authors of this paper are Assistant Professor Yi Song from the School of Life Sciences at SUSTech, and Dr. Zhenghong Wang, currently an Associate Professor at Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology and formerly a postdoctoral researcher in Song’s lab. The co-first authors are Zewen Li (whose Master’s thesis was recognized as an Excellent Graduate Thesis at SUSTech) and Dr. Zhenghong Wang. Contributors also include Master’s students Yujie Zhang and Kaixiang Guan, research assistant Pengfei Meng, and Dr. Jianbo Yang, a postdoctoral researcher from the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden.