A Drought-Activated Bacterial Symbiont Enhances Legume Resilience Through Coordinated Amino Acid Metabolism.

ABSTRACT: Drought stress severely impacts agricultural productivity, yet mechanisms underlying microbial enhancement of plant drought tolerance remain poorly understood. This study investigated whether Sphingobacterium nripensae DR205 exhibits drought-specific plant growth promotion through conditional metabolic activation. We combined plant cultivation experiments, genome sequencing, and comparative transcriptomics to evaluate DR205 responses under normal and drought conditions with or without root exudates. DR205 showed minimal growth promotion under normal conditions but enhanced plant biomass by 74-344% specifically under drought stress. Genome analysis revealed complete pathways for both stress tolerance (osmolyte biosynthesis and antioxidant systems) and plant interaction (IAA productio

SUBMITTER: Nishu SD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12844086 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature