Predatory protists impact plant performance by promoting plant growth-promoting rhizobacterial consortia.

ABSTRACT: Plant performance is impacted by rhizosphere bacteria. These bacteria are subjected to both bottom-up control by root exudates as well as top-down control by predators, particularly protists. Protists stimulate plant growth-promoting microbes resulting in improved plant performance. However, knowledge of the mechanisms that determine the interconnections within such tripartite protist-bacteria-plant interactions remains limited. We conducted experiments examining the effects of different densities of the predatory protist Cercomonas lenta on rhizosphere bacterial communities, specifically zooming on interactions between Cercomonas lenta and key bacterial taxa, as well as interactions among key bacterial taxa. We tracked rhizosphere bacterial community composition, potential microbial inter

SUBMITTER: Guo S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11459550 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature