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Article|15 Oct 2024|OPEN
Diversity and interactions of rhizobacteria determine multinutrient traits in tomato host plants under nitrogen and water disturbances
Wen-Xuan Shi1 ,† , Jun-Jie Guo1 ,† , Xin-Xuan Yu1 , Zhi-Xing Li1 , Bo-Yang Weng1 , Dan-Xia Wang1 , Shi-Hao Su1 , Yu-Fei Sun1 , Jin-Fang Tan1 and Ruo-Han Xie,1 ,
1State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Stress Biology, School of Agriculture and Biotechnology, Shenzhen Campus of Sun Yat-sen University, Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518107, China
*Corresponding author. E-mail: xierh25@mail.sysu.edu.cn
Both authors contributed equally to the study.

Horticulture Research 12,
Article number: uhae290 (2025)
doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/hr/uhae290
Views: 2465

Received: 04 Jul 2024
Accepted: 03 Oct 2024
Published online: 15 Oct 2024

Abstract

Coevolution within the plant holobiont extends the capacity of host plants for nutrient acquisition and stress resistance. However, the role of the rhizospheric microbiota in maintaining multinutrient utilization (i.e. multinutrient traits) in the host remains to be elucidated. Multinutrient cycling index (MNC), analogous to the widely used multifunctionality index, provides a straightforward and interpretable measure of the multinutrient traits in host plants. Using tomato as a model plant, we characterized MNC (based on multiple aboveground nutrient contents) in host plants under different nitrogen and water supply regimes and explored the associations between rhizospheric bacterial community assemblages and host plant multinutrient profiles. Rhizosphere bacterial community diversity, quantitative abundance, predicted function, and key topological features of the co-occurrence network were more sensitive to water supply than to nitrogen supply. A core bacteriome comprising 61 genera, such as Candidatus Koribacter and Streptomyces, persisted across different habitats and served as a key predictor of host plant nutrient uptake. The MNC index increased with greater diversity and higher core taxon abundance in the rhizobacterial community, while decreasing with higher average degree and graph density of rhizobacterial co-occurrence network. Multinutrient absorption by host plants was primarily regulated by community diversity and rhizobacterial network complexity under the interaction of nitrogen and water. The high biodiversity and complex species interactions of the rhizospheric bacteriome play crucial roles in host plant performance. This study supports the development of rhizosphere microbiome engineering, facilitating effective manipulation of the microbiome for enhanced plant benefits, which supports sustainable agricultural practices and plant health.