Discovery of specific rhizosphere bacteria <i>Rhodanobacter</i> involved in KAI2-mediated drought tolerance in <i>Arabidopsis</i>
The KARRIKIN INSENSITIVE 2 (KAI2) receptor has been reported to contribute to drought tolerance in Arabidopsis . However, the extent to which KAI2’s function in drought tolerance depends on soil microbiota remains unclear. This study demonstrates that the rhizosphere microbiome is indispensable for KAI2-mediated drought tolerance. We isolated specific Rhodanobacter sp. and confirmed its role in enhancing drought tolerance in Arabidopsis . Notably, Rhodanobacter sp. was found to specifically secrete the key isoflavone daidzin. We found that daidzin had a similar function with KAI2 agonist, desmethyl-type germinone, and induced interaction between KAI2 and SUPRESSOR OF MORE AXILLARY GROWTH 2 1. Moreover, the exogenous application of daidzin enhanced drought tolerance by modulating the expression of karrikin response and drought-related genes, in a KAI2-dependent manner. Our findings suggest that the rhizosphere microbiome plays a crucial role in facilitating KAI2-mediated drought tolerance in Arabidopsis , with Rhodanobacter sp. contributing through the secretion of daidzin.
Authors
- Chunjie Tian (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1792-6005)
- Wenbo Jia
- Tianzuo Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9374-6167)
- Lei Tian (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5066-8058)
- Lam‐Son Phan Tran (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9883-9768)
- Yuxuan Hu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5196-5409)
- Zongmu Yao
- Gang Ye (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1266-0762)
- Weiqiang Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2324-0387)
- Yu Sun (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6760-1140)
- Xiaojian Yin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5919-0740)
- Yuchun Yan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4462-8169)
- Xianzhong Feng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7129-3731)
- Zhongjun Jia (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2915-8648)
- Hengfei Zhang
- Mostafa Abdelrahman
- Shuhua Liu
- Jingjing Chang
Institutions
- Texas Tech University (US)
- Jilin University (CN)
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology (CN)
- Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning (CN)
- Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CN)
- Institute of Botany (CN)
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Science Advances
- Published
- 2026-07-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.ads2698
- Primary Topic
- Plant Molecular Biology Research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China