cBacillus amyloliquefaciens strains are capable of suppressing soilborne pathogens through the secretion of an array of lipopeptides and root colonization, and biofilm formation ability is considered a prerequisite for efficient root colonization. In this study, we report that one of the lipopeptide compounds (bacillomycin D) produced by the rhizosphere strain Bacillus amyloliquefaciens SQR9 not only plays a vital role in the antagonistic activity against Fusarium oxysporum but also affects the expression of the genes involved in biofilm formation. When the bacillomycin D and fengycin synthesis pathways were individually disrupted, mutant SQR9M1, which was deficient in the production of bacillomycin D, only showed minor antagonistic activity against F. oxysporum, but another mutant, SQR9M2, which was deficient in production of fengycin, showed antagonistic activity equivalent to that of the wild-type strain of B. amyloliquefaciens SQR9. The results from in vitro, root in situ, and quantitative reverse transcription-PCR studies demonstrated that bacillomycin D contributes to the establishment of biofilms. Interestingly, the addition of bacillomycin D could significantly increase the expression levels of kinC gene, but KinC activation is not triggered by leaking of potassium. These findings suggest that bacillomycin D contributes not only to biocontrol activity but also to biofilm formation in strain B. amyloliquefaciens SQR9.

Background The relationship between biodiversity and soil microbiome stability remains poorly understood. Here, we investigated the impacts of bacterial phylogenetic diversity on the functional traits and the stability of the soil microbiome. Communities differing in phylogenetic diversity were generated by inoculating serially diluted soil suspensions into sterilized soil, and the stability of the microbiome was assessed by detecting community variations under various pH levels. The taxonomic features and potential functional traits were detected by DNA sequencing. Results We found that bacterial communities with higher phylogenetic diversity tended to be more stable, implying that microbiomes with higher biodiversity are more resistant to perturbation. Functional gene co-occurrence network and machine learning classification analyses identified specialized metabolic functions, especially “nitrogen metabolism” and “phosphonate and phosphinate metabolism,” as keystone functions. Further taxonomic annotation found that keystone functions are carried out by specific bacterial taxa, including Nitrospira and Gemmatimonas, among others. Conclusions This study provides new insights into our understanding of the relationships between soil microbiome biodiversity and ecosystem stability and highlights specialized metabolic functions embedded in keystone taxa that may be essential for soil microbiome stability.

A growing body of evidence suggests that microbial α-diversity (local species richness) may have positive effects on ecosystem function. However, less attention has been paid to β-diversity (the variation among local microbial assemblages). Here we studied the impact of microbial α-diversity on stochastic/deterministic microbial community assembly processes, which are related to β-diversity, and the consequences for community function. Bacterial communities differing in α-diversity were generated and their structures and potential community functional traits were inferred from DNA sequencing. Phylogenetic null modeling analysis suggests that stochastic assembly processes are dominant in high-diversity communities. However, in low-diversity communities, deterministic assembly processes are dominant, associating with the reduction of specialized functions that are correlated with specific bacterial taxa. Overall, we suggest that the low-diversity-induced deterministic community assembly processes may constrain community functions, highlighting the potential roles of specialized functions in community assembly and in generating and sustaining the function of soil ecosystems.

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