Thiamine cross-feeding drives microbial coexistence in the leaf microbiome
Abstract Microbiome homeostasis is crucial for host health and ecosystem function, yet the molecular and ecological mechanisms underlying community assembly and stability remain elusive. Here we uncover a conserved yeast–oomycete association that promotes their coexistence in the leaf microbiome. Using a continental-scale microbiome survey, we identified an asymmetric mutualistic interaction between two eukaryotic hub microbes: the yeast Dioszegia hungarica and the obligate oomycete Albugo laibachii . We show that Dioszegia facilitates Albugo colonization by supplying thiamine via a dedicated membrane permease, alleviating Albugo ’s auxotrophy. Genomic and transcriptomic analyses indicate that natural selection has acted on thiamine production in Dioszegia , shaping this metabolic complementation. In planta assays further suggest that Albugo presence supports Dioszegia persistence under glasshouse conditions. Our study illustrates how the evolution of nutrient cross-feeding mediates microbial coexistence and microbiome stability. Targeting microbial nutrient flows offers new strategies for engineering microbiomes and enhancing plant resilience in natural and agricultural systems.
Authors
- Eva H. Stukenbrock (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8590-3345)
- Sven Nahnsen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4375-0691)
- Marco Alexandre Guerreiro (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5133-8779)
- Daniel Gómez‐Pérez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9938-9444)
- Stéphane Hacquard (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2293-3525)
- Carlos Alonso‐Blanco (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4738-5556)
- Maryam Mahmoudi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4122-0037)
- Paloma Durán (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4383-6196)
- Ariane C. Kemen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3533-1355)
- Jon Ågren (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9573-2463)
- Yiheng Hu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6513-9834)
- Eric M. Kemen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7924-116X)
- Daniel Straub (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2553-0660)
- Alfredo Mari (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3871-088X)
- Benjamin Schwessinger (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7194-2922)
- Fabrice Roux (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8059-5638)
- Oskar Wacker (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-2041-610X)
- Kun Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2216-8651)
- Sinja Niemann (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-1433-2951)
- Johanna Bode
Institutions
- Australian National University (AU)
- Uppsala University (SE)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (ES)
- BG Klinik Tübingen (DE)
- Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel (DE)
- Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement (FR)
- Centro Nacional de Biotecnología (ES)
- Cluster of Excellence on Plant Sciences (DE)
- Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research (DE)
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology (DE)
- Quantitative Biology Center
- Université de Toulouse (FR)
- University of Birmingham (GB)
- University of Tübingen (DE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Microbiology
- Published
- 2026-10-05
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-026-02499-w
- Primary Topic
- Plant-Microbe Interactions and Immunity
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00