Microbiome engineering optimized Antarctic microbiota to support a plant host under water deficit

Abstract

Abstract Background:Climate change challenges modern agriculture to develop alternative and eco-friendly solutions to alleviate (a)biotic stresses. The use of soil microbiomes from extreme environments opens new avenues to discover novel microorganisms and microbial functions to protect plants. In this study we confirm the ability of a bioinoculant, generated by natural engineering, to promote host development under water stress. Microbiome engineering was mediated through three factors i) Antarctic soil donation, ii) water deficit and iii) multigenerational tomato host selection. Results: We revealed that tomato plants growing in soils supplemented with Antarctic microbiota were tolerant to water deficit stress after 10 generations. Microbial community analysis using 16s rRNA amplicon sequencing data suggested that Candidatus Nitrocosmicus and Bacillusspp. were key taxa associated with the observed enhanced water deficit tolerance. Conclusions: We proposed that in situ microbiota engineering through the evolution of tridimensional factors (long-standing extreme climate adaption and host and stress selection) could represent a promising strategy for novel generation of microbial inoculants.