Metabolism of hemicelluloses by root-associated Bacteroidota species

作者：Hannah Martin, Lucy A. Rogers, Laila Moushtaq, Amanda A. Brindley, Polly Forbes, Amy R. Quintion, Andrew R. J. Murphy, Helen Hipperson, Tim J. Daniell, Didier Ndeh, Sam Amsbury, Andrew Hitchcock, Ian D. E. A. Lidbury · 发表于：The ISME Journal · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1093/ismejo/wraf022 · 被引用次数：38 · 研究领域：Enzyme Production and Characterization、Biofuel production and bioconversion、Potato Plant Research

Bacteroidota species are enriched in the plant microbiome and provide several beneficial functions for their host, including disease suppression. Determining the mechanisms that enable bacteroidota to colonise plant roots may therefore provide opportunities for enhancing crop production through microbiome engineering. By focusing on nutrient acquisition mechanisms, we discovered Bacteroidota species lack high affinity ATP-binding cassette transporters common in other plant-associated bacteria for capturing simple carbon exudates. Instead, bacteroidota possess TonB-dependent transporters predicted to import glycans produced by plant polysaccharide breakdown. Metatranscriptomics (oat rhizosphere) identified several TonB-dependent transporters genes that were highly expressed in Flavobacterium (phylum Bacteroidota). Using Flavobacterium johnsoniae as the model, we experimentally validated the function of one highly expressed TonB-dependent transporter, identifying a conserved Xyloglucan utilisation loci conferring the ability to import and degrade xyloglucan, the major hemicellulose secreted from plant roots. Xyloglucan utilisation loci harbour an endoxyloglucanase related to family 5 subfamily 4 subclade 2D glycoside hydrolases carrying a mutation that we demonstrate is required for full activity towards xyloglucan. Based on analysing 700 soil metagenomes, subclade 2D glycoside hydrolases have radiated in soil and are prevalent among plant-associated bacteroidota and certain ta...