Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42891708›Full record

ArticlePlant cell reports2026

Compatibility among Bacillus strains is linked to synthetic communities function, rhizosphere microbiome assembly and plant performance.

Abdur Rashid Khan, Qurban Ali, Sadia Khalid, Muhammad Ayaz, Li Li, Ma Jinbiao, Sunil Mundra, Vladislav Kuptsov, Emilia Kolomiets, Qin Gu and 2 more

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Article in Plant cell reports, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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1 · What the graph read from it

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2 · The registry

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors.

Abdur Rashid KhanThe Sanya Institute of Nanjing Agricultural University, Sanya, 572024, Hainan Province, China. khan@ms.xjb.ac.cn.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0007-0435-2029
Qurban AliDepartment of Biology, College of Science, United Arab Emirates University, 15551, Al-Ain, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Sadia KhalidDepartment of Botany, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan.
Muhammad AyazThe Sanya Institute of Nanjing Agricultural University, Sanya, 572024, Hainan Province, China.
Li LiState Key Laboratory of Ecological Safety and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Science, Urumqi, 830011, China.
Ma JinbiaoState Key Laboratory of Ecological Safety and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Science, Urumqi, 830011, China.
Sunil MundraDepartment of Biology, College of Science, United Arab Emirates University, 15551, Al-Ain, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Vladislav KuptsovState Scientific Production Association "Chemical Synthesis and Biotechnology", Institute of Microbiology, National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, Minsk, Belarus.
Emilia KolomietsState Scientific Production Association "Chemical Synthesis and Biotechnology", Institute of Microbiology, National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, Minsk, Belarus.
Qin GuThe Sanya Institute of Nanjing Agricultural University, Sanya, 572024, Hainan Province, China.
Huijun WuThe Sanya Institute of Nanjing Agricultural University, Sanya, 572024, Hainan Province, China.
Xuewen GaoThe Sanya Institute of Nanjing Agricultural University, Sanya, 572024, Hainan Province, China. gaoxw@njau.edu.cn.

Funding

hou Bay Science and Technology City Industrial Technology Innovation Joint Project B25H1JC17Inner Mongolia Key R&D and Achievement Transformation Project Autonomous Region 2023YFDZ0011International Science & Technology Cooperation Program of Hainan Province GHYF2026022National Key Research and Development Plan Intergovernmental International Science and Technology Innovation 2022YFE0121800Xinjiang Autonomous Region Science and Technology Assistance Plan Project 2025E02010
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Microbial compatibility is an important consideration for synthetic communities (SynCom) function, but its ecological and physiological consequences for plant-microbe interactions remain insufficiently understood. We investigated compatible and incompatible Bacillus-based SynComs and their effects on tomato growth, rhizosphere microbiome assembly, and microbial network organization. Compatible co-cultures exhibited enhanced co-culture phenotypes, including merged colony morphology, enhanced biofilm formation, and altered growth dynamics, whereas incompatible combinations formed demarcation zones, indicative of antagonism. The compatible pair NMCN6+LNXM12 showed higher attached biomass and relative indole-3-acetic acid production compared with most incompatible or single-strain inoculations. Greenhouse experiments revealed that compatible SynComs significantly promoted tomato growth, increased plant height, root length, photosynthesis, and stomatal conductance, while incompatible combinations showed distinct soluble sugar responses rather than consistent evidence of plant stress. Amplicon sequencing revealed treatment-associated variation in rhizosphere bacterial community composition. Compatible SynComs were associated with enrichment of specific bacterial taxa and produced more interconnected and stable co-occurrence networks, whereas incompatible combinations showed distinct taxonomic profiles and comparatively fragmented microbial associations. Community composition differed significantly among individual treatments but not among broader compatibility categories with unequal within-group dispersion. Collectively, the observed co-culture, plant, and microbiome responses highlight differences among the selected Bacillus combinations that cannot be attributed to compatibility alone. These findings may provide the selection of Bacillus strain combinations for further evaluation as plant inoculants.

Indexed as

BacillusMicrobiotaRhizosphereSolanum lycopersicumBiofilmsBiomassCoculture TechniquesIndoleacetic AcidsPlant RootsSoil MicrobiologyIndoleacetic AcidsBacillus compatibilityCommunity structureMicrobial interactionsPlant-microbe interactionsRhizosphere microbiome

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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.