Establishing microbial communities to promote the growth of Pleurotus ostreatus through a top-down approach is hindered by the dominance of antagonistic interactions

Researchers studied how to improve oyster mushroom growth by adding helpful bacteria to the growing substrate. They found that most bacteria actually compete with the mushrooms and slow their growth, making it difficult to create beneficial microbial communities using standard enrichment methods. Only one type of bacterium (Brevundimonas) showed neutral interaction with the mushrooms, while several others actively inhibited growth. The study suggests that future approaches should integrate the mushroom into the enrichment process from the beginning rather than trying to add pre-selected microbial communities afterward.