Mousa Walaa K, Ghemrawi Rose, Abu-Izneid Tareq, Al Ramadan Najwa, Al Sheebani Fatima
College of Pharmacy, Al Ain University, Abu Dhabi, 64141, United Arab Emirates.
AAU Health and Biomedical Research Center, Al Ain University, Abu Dhabi, 112612, United Arab Emirates.
Heliyon. 2024 Aug 19;10(16):e36548. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e36548. eCollection 2024 Aug 30.
Synthetic microbial communities, which simplify the complexity of natural ecosystems while retaining their key features, are gaining momentum in engineering and biotechnology applications. One potential application is the development of bioinoculants, offering an eco-friendly, sustainable solution to promote plant growth and increase resilience to abiotic stresses amidst climate change. A potential source for stress-tolerant microbes is those associated with desert plants, evolved and shaped by selective pressures to promote host health under harsh environmental conditions. In our research, we aim to design and develop synthetic microbial consortia inspired by the natural microbiota of four desert plants native to the Arabian Peninsula, inferred from our previous work identifying the structure and predicting the function of these microbial communities using high throughput eDNA barcoding. To obtain culturable microbes that are manageable and traceable yet still representative of natural microbial communities, we combined multiple experimental protocols coupled with compatibility and synergy assessments, along with in planta testing. We isolated a total of 75 bacteria and conducted detailed biological evaluations, revealing that an overwhelming majority (84 %) of all isolates produced indole acetic acid (IAA), with 73 % capable of solubilizing phosphate, 60 % producing siderophores, 47 % forming biofilms, and 35 % producing ACC deaminase, all contributing to plant growth and stress tolerance. We constructed four synthetic microbial consortia, named EcoBiomes, consisting of synergistic combinations of multiple species that can co-exist without significant antagonism. Our preliminary data indicate that EcoBiomes enhance the resilience of heterologous host plants under simulated environmental stresses, including drought, heat, and salinity. EcoBiomes offer a unique, sustainable, and eco-friendly solution to mitigate the impact of climate change on sensitive ecosystems, ultimately affecting global food security.
合成微生物群落简化了自然生态系统的复杂性，同时保留了其关键特征，在工程和生物技术应用中越来越受到关注。一个潜在的应用是开发生物接种剂，为促进植物生长和提高气候变化下对非生物胁迫的恢复力提供一种生态友好、可持续的解决方案。耐胁迫微生物的一个潜在来源是与沙漠植物相关的微生物，它们在恶劣环境条件下通过选择性压力进化并塑造，以促进宿主健康。在我们的研究中，我们旨在设计和开发受阿拉伯半岛四种本土沙漠植物自然微生物群启发的合成微生物群落，这是根据我们之前的工作推断出来的，我们使用高通量eDNA条形码识别了这些微生物群落的结构并预测了其功能。为了获得可培养的、易于管理和追踪但仍能代表自然微生物群落的微生物，我们结合了多种实验方案以及兼容性和协同性评估，以及植物体内测试。我们总共分离出75种细菌并进行了详细的生物学评估，结果表明，所有分离株中绝大多数（84%）产生吲哚乙酸（IAA），73%能够溶解磷酸盐，60%产生铁载体，47%形成生物膜，35%产生ACC脱氨酶，所有这些都有助于植物生长和胁迫耐受性。我们构建了四个合成微生物群落，命名为生态群落（EcoBiomes），由多种能够在无明显拮抗作用下共存的物种的协同组合组成。我们的初步数据表明，生态群落（EcoBiomes）在模拟环境胁迫（包括干旱、高温和盐度）下增强了异源宿主植物的恢复力。生态群落（EcoBiomes）提供了一种独特、可持续且生态友好的解决方案，以减轻气候变化对敏感生态系统的影响，最终影响全球粮食安全。
