Aleksieienko Ivan, Fernandes Hertel Mariana, Reilhan Jérôme, de Castro Marie, Légeret Bertrand, Caixeta Oliveira Halley, Reiter Ilja M, Santaella Catherine
Aix Marseille Univ, CEA, CNRS, BIAM, LEMiRE, ECCOREV FR 3098, F-13108 Saint Paul Lez Durance, France.
State University of Londrina, Department of Animal and Plant Biology, Londrina 86057-970, Paraná, Brazil.
Plants (Basel). 2025 May 29;14(11):1659. doi: 10.3390/plants14111659.
Climate-change-induced drought threatens forest restoration by limiting seedling establishment. To address this, we developed synthetic bacterial communities (SynComs) tailored to support drought tolerance in two Mediterranean tree species, and . Bacteria were isolated from forest soil exposed to long-term drought, sampling across soil depths and root-associated compartments. We selected strains with key plant-beneficial traits, including exopolysaccharide (EPS) production, hormone synthesis (auxin, ABA), siderophore release, and osmotic tolerance. SynComs were assembled based on functional complementarity and ecological origin. Biofilm assays showed that even weak individual producers could enhance community-level performance. After initial screening on , the most and least effective SynComs were tested on and seedlings. Compared to controls, the best-performing SynComs reduced the proportion of drought-symptomatic seedlings by 47% in and 71% in , outperforming single-strain inoculants. Notably, EPS-rich SynCom B aligned with the conservative root traits of , while hormone-rich SynCom F matched the acquisitive strategy of . Predictive modeling identified bacterial identity and symptom timing as key predictors of drought resilience. Our results highlight the value of matching microbial traits with plant strategies and drought context for climate-smart forest restoration.
气候变化引发的干旱通过限制幼苗定植威胁森林恢复。为解决这一问题，我们开发了定制的合成细菌群落（SynComs），以支持两种地中海树种[此处缺失两种树种的具体名称]的耐旱性。细菌从长期干旱的森林土壤中分离，在不同土壤深度和根际相关区域进行采样。我们选择了具有关键植物有益特性的菌株，包括胞外多糖（EPS）产生、激素合成（生长素、脱落酸）、铁载体释放和渗透耐受性。基于功能互补性和生态起源组装SynComs。生物膜试验表明，即使是较弱的个体生产者也能提高群落水平的性能。在对[此处缺失具体测试对象]进行初步筛选后，对最有效和最无效的SynComs在[此处缺失两种树种的具体名称]幼苗上进行测试。与对照相比，表现最佳的SynComs在[此处缺失第一种树种名称]中使有干旱症状的幼苗比例降低了47%，在[此处缺失第二种树种名称]中降低了71%，优于单菌株接种剂。值得注意的是，富含EPS的SynCom B与[此处缺失第一种树种名称]保守的根系性状一致，而富含激素的SynCom F与[此处缺失第二种树种名称]的 acquisitive 策略相匹配。预测模型确定细菌身份和症状出现时间是干旱恢复力的关键预测因子。我们的结果强调了将微生物特性与植物策略以及干旱环境相匹配对于气候智能型森林恢复的价值。
