ArticleNature communications2021
Rapid evolution of bacterial mutualism in the plant rhizosphere.
Article in Nature communications, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 71 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
71 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 118 citations in OpenAlex.
- Root colonization by beneficial rhizobacteria.FEMS microbiology reviews · 2024Pooled it
- Directed Evolution of Plant-Associated Bacteria Enhances Plant Holobiont Stress Tolerance.Plant, cell & environment · 2026Article
- The insect- and plant-associated lifestyles of Pseudomonas protegens CHA0 are preserved following serial passage through insect larvae.PLoS pathogens · 2026Article
- Soil Microbial Diversity and Network Organization Respond to Land Use and Agricultural Inputs Worldwide.Global change biology · 2026Article
- Plant health in the era of global changes, holobiont biology, and microbiome-based solutions.Horticulture research · 2026Article
- Bacillus velezensis SQR9: a model biofertilizer strain for beneficial plant root-rhizobacterium interaction.Science China. Life sciences · 2026Review
- Plant Growth-Promoting Microorganisms Mediate Plant Metabolic Reprogramming to Manage the Rhizospheric Microbiome.Microorganisms · 2026Review
- A Concept Using α-Niche Evolution Within Bacterial Communities to Direct β-Niche Evolution of Focal Species.Environmental microbiology · 2026Article
- Overwintering drives rapid adaptation in Drosophila with potential costs to insecticide resistance.Evolution; international journal of organic evolution · 2026Article
- Evolutionary mechanisms underlying bacterial adaptation to the plant environment.FEMS microbiology reviews · 2026Review
- Fit for purpose: evaluation and evolution of agricultural bioinoculants across production landscapes.ISME communications · 2026Review
- Root traits correlate with crop rhizosphere microbiome diversity independent of legume relatedness.ISME communications · 2026Article
- Evidence for the role of soil C/N ratio in shaping plant responses to root-knot nematode infection.Journal of advanced research · 2026Article
- GacA uses two distinct regulatory mechanisms to control the biosynthesis of 2,4-diacetylphloroglucinol inApplied and environmental microbiology · 2025Article
- Gut microbiome profiling of a migratory Anser serrirostris population reveals two groups with distinct pathogen and ARG contents.NPJ biofilms and microbiomes · 2025Article
- Reovirus infection results in rice rhizosphere microbial community reassembly through metabolite-mediated recruitment and exclusion.Microbiome · 2025Article
- Organic pollutant-induced long-distance ROS signaling drives plant systemic acquired acclimation via rhizomicrobiota.Nature communications · 2025Article
- One Function, Many Faces: Functional Convergence in the Gut Microbiomes of European Marine and Freshwater Fish Unveiled by Bayesian Network Meta-Analysis.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2025Article
- Plant species and soil moisture shape rhizosphere microbiota in an unusually productive tundra ecosystem of North Greenland.Environmental microbiome · 2025Article
- Dynamic shifts in plant-microbe relationships.Plant biotechnology (Tokyo, Japan) · 2025Article
11 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 2 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
Abstract
While beneficial plant-microbe interactions are common in nature, direct evidence for the evolution of bacterial mutualism is scarce. Here we use experimental evolution to causally show that initially plant-antagonistic Pseudomonas protegens bacteria evolve into mutualists in the rhizosphere of Arabidopsis thaliana within six plant growth cycles (6 months). This evolutionary transition is accompanied with increased mutualist fitness via two mechanisms: (i) improved competitiveness for root exudates and (ii) enhanced tolerance to the plant-secreted antimicrobial scopoletin whose production is regulated by transcription factor MYB72. Crucially, these mutualistic adaptations are coupled with reduced phytotoxicity, enhanced transcription of MYB72 in roots, and a positive effect on plant growth. Genetically, mutualism is associated with diverse mutations in the GacS/GacA two-component regulator system, which confers high fitness benefits only in the presence of plants. Together, our results show that rhizosphere bacteria can rapidly evolve along the parasitism-mutualism continuum at an agriculturally relevant evolutionary timescale.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.