Vasvi Chaudhry

Abstract Microbial communities that promote plant growth show promise in reducing the impacts of climate change on plant health and productivity. Understanding microbe-microbe interactions in a community context is paramount for designing effective microbial consortia that enhance plant resilience. In this study, we investigated the dynamics of a synthetic microbial community (SynCom) assembled from Arabidopsis thaliana leaves to elucidate factors shaping community composition and stability.

1 Introduction Plants closely associate with complex microbial communities composed of bacteria, fungi, oomycetes, and other microorganisms. This community, or microbiome, colonizes the soil surrounding the roots (rhizosphere), external plant surfaces, and the spaces within plants (endosphere). The microbiome affects plant growth (Vessey, 2003), phenology (Lau and Lennon, 2011; Wagner et al., 2014), abiotic stress tolerance (Rodriguez et al., 2008) and disease resistance (Vannier et al., 2019).

Summary Biotic and abiotic interactions shape natural microbial communities. The mechanisms behind microbe–microbe interactions, particularly those protein based, are not well understood. We hypothesize that released proteins with antimicrobial activity are a powerful and highly specific toolset to shape and defend plant niches.