Abstract
Intercropping between legumes and cereals enhances nutrient acquisition. However, the mechanisms by which legume-associated microbes influence non-legume root development remain unclear. Bradyrhizobium, traditionally recognised as a legume symbiont, may also perform non-symbiotic roles in shaping cereal root architecture and nutrient uptake. We investigated how soybean-maize intercropping recruits Bradyrhizobium through flavonoid exudation and how this bacterium modulates maize flavonoid metabolism, root growth, and nutrient acquisition. Pot intercropping experiments were conducted with maize grown alone or with soybean. Root exudates, rhizosphere microbial communities, and soil nutrient profiles were analysed, and Bradyrhizobium isolates were tested for flavonoid responses and maize inoculation effects. Intercropping markedly enriched Bradyrhizobium in the maize-soybean interaction-zone rhizosphere. Soybean roots released 5-8 times more flavonoids than maize, which recruited Bradyrhizobium and enhanced soil phosphate availability and nutrient-cycling potential. Inoculation with Bradyrhizobium promoted maize root elongation and nutrient uptake. Transcriptomic analyses revealed activation of the phenylpropanoid-flavonoid pathway, repression of flavonol biosynthesis, and induction of auxin-responsive and nutrient transport genes, suggesting that Bradyrhizobium stimulates maize root growth via a flavonoid-auxin regulatory module. Soybean-derived flavonoids recruit Bradyrhizobium to maize rhizospheres, where the bacterium enhances maize root development and nutrient acquisition, uncovering a cross-species microbial mechanism underlying legume-cereal intercropping benefits.
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Claims 10
Claim · model-written summary
Intercropping markedly enriched Bradyrhizobium in the maize-soybean interaction-zone rhizosphere.
- Treatment
- Intercroppinge0
- Interactor
- Bradyrhizobium
Bradyrhizobiume0symbiont - Outcome
- Bradyrhizobiume0
- Direction
- enrichede0
- Setting
- maize-soybean interaction-zone rhizospheree0
Zea maysOrganisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Intercropping markedly enriched Bradyrhizobium in the maize-soybean interaction-zone rhizosphere”
Claim · model-written summary
Soybean roots released 5-8 times more flavonoids than maize.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“Soybean roots released 5-8 times more flavonoids than maize, which recruited Bradyrhizobium and enhanced soil phosphate availability and nutrient-cycling potential”
Claim · model-written summary
Soybean-derived flavonoids recruited Bradyrhizobium to the maize rhizosphere.
- Taxon
- soybean
Glycine maxe1 - Interactor
- BradyrhizobiumBradyrhizobiume1symbiont
- Compound
- flavonoidse1
- Outcome
- recruitede1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“Soybean roots released 5-8 times more flavonoids than maize, which recruited Bradyrhizobium and enhanced soil phosphate availability and nutrient-cycling potential”
Claim · model-written summary
Soybean-derived flavonoids enhanced soil phosphate availability.
- Taxon
- soybeanGlycine maxe1
- Interactor
- BradyrhizobiumBradyrhizobiume1symbiont
- Outcome
- soil phosphate availabilitye1
- Direction
- enhancede1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“Soybean roots released 5-8 times more flavonoids than maize, which recruited Bradyrhizobium and enhanced soil phosphate availability and nutrient-cycling potential”
Claim · model-written summary
Inoculation with Bradyrhizobium promoted maize root elongation.
- Treatment
- Inoculation with Bradyrhizobiume2
- Interactor
- BradyrhizobiumBradyrhizobiume2symbiont
- Outcome
- root elongatione2
- Direction
- promotede2
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e2“Inoculation with Bradyrhizobium promoted maize root elongation and nutrient uptake”
Claim · model-written summary
Inoculation with Bradyrhizobium promoted maize nutrient uptake.
- Treatment
- Inoculation with Bradyrhizobiume2
- Interactor
- BradyrhizobiumBradyrhizobiume2symbiont
- Outcome
- nutrient uptakee2
- Direction
- promotede2
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e2“Inoculation with Bradyrhizobium promoted maize root elongation and nutrient uptake”
Claim · model-written summary
Transcriptomics showed activation of the phenylpropanoid-flavonoid pathway in maize.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Intercropping markedly enriched Bradyrhizobium in the maize-soybean interaction-zone rhizosphere”
e3“Transcriptomic analyses revealed activation of the phenylpropanoid-flavonoid pathway, repression of flavonol biosynthesis, and induction of auxin-responsive and nutrient transport genes”
Claim · model-written summary
Transcriptomics showed repression of flavonol biosynthesis in maize.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Intercropping markedly enriched Bradyrhizobium in the maize-soybean interaction-zone rhizosphere”
e3“Transcriptomic analyses revealed activation of the phenylpropanoid-flavonoid pathway, repression of flavonol biosynthesis, and induction of auxin-responsive and nutrient transport genes”
Claim · model-written summary
Transcriptomics showed induction of auxin-responsive and nutrient transport genes in maize.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Intercropping markedly enriched Bradyrhizobium in the maize-soybean interaction-zone rhizosphere”
e3“Transcriptomic analyses revealed activation of the phenylpropanoid-flavonoid pathway, repression of flavonol biosynthesis, and induction of auxin-responsive and nutrient transport genes”
Claim · model-written summary
Bradyrhizobium may stimulate maize root growth via a flavonoid-auxin regulatory module.
- Interactor
- BradyrhizobiumBradyrhizobiume4symbiont
- Outcome
- root growthe4
- Qualifier
- via a flavonoid-auxin regulatory modulee4
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e4“suggesting that Bradyrhizobium stimulates maize root growth via a flavonoid-auxin regulatory module”