Quinolone-mediated metabolic cross-feeding develops aluminium tolerance in soil microbial consortia
Aluminium (Al)-tolerant beneficial bacteria confer resistance to Al toxicity to crops in widely distributed acidic soils. However, the mechanism by which microbial consortia maintain Al tolerance under acid and Al toxicity stress remains unknown. Here, we demonstrate that a soil bacterial consortium composed of Rhodococcus erythropolis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa exhibit greater Al tolerance than either bacterium alone. P. aeruginosa releases the quorum sensing molecule 2-heptyl-1H-quinolin-4-one (HHQ), which is efficiently degraded by R. erythropolis. This degradation reduces population density limitations and further enhances the metabolic activity of P. aeruginosa under Al stress. Moreover, R. erythropolis converts HHQ into tryptophan, promoting the synthesis of peptidoglycan, a key component for cell wall stability, thereby improving the Al tolerance of R. erythropolis. This study reveals a metabolic cross-feeding mechanism that maintains microbial Al tolerance, offering insights for designing synthetic microbial consortia to sustain food security and sustainable agriculture in acidic soil regions.
Authors
- Jizhong Z. Zhou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2014-0564)
- Ertao Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5178-3530)
- Jiabao Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6922-0480)
- Ren Fang Shen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6474-8198)
- Meitong Jiang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4841-3122)
- Chaoyang Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-2724-8096)
- Thomas Ward Crowther (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5674-8913)
- Yuanhong Xie (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0862-6660)
- Mengting Yuan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0017-3908)
- Shengjing Shi
- Jixian Ding
- Yuting Liang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5443-4486)
- Zhiyuan Ma (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9889-2371)
- Hui Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6300-9334)
- Yan Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-7177-1111)
- Yang Bai (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-6148-7433)
Institutions
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Peking University (CN)
- ETH Zurich (CH)
- AgResearch (NZ)
- Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences (CN)
- Changzhou University (CN)
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Institute of Soil Science (CN)
- University of Oklahoma (US)
- University of California, Berkeley (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2024-11-22
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-54616-0
- Citations
- 38
- Primary Topic
- Aluminum toxicity and tolerance in plants and animals
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 22.78
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Chinese Academy of Sciences
- Government of Jiangsu Province
- Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province
- Youth Innovation Promotion Association of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
- Youth Innovation Promotion Association