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Rhizosphere Bacterial Communities Alter in Process to Mycorrhizal Developments of a Mixotrophic Pyrola japonica

Summary

This study examined how bacteria living around plant roots change as fungi form partnerships with a plant called Pyrola japonica. Researchers identified three stages of fungal development and found that bacterial communities were most diverse when fungi had not yet colonized roots or when they were degenerating. The findings suggest that fungi help shape and maintain the bacterial communities around roots, creating a beneficial three-way partnership between plants, fungi, and bacteria.

Background

Rhizosphere bacteria work synergistically with mycorrhizal fungi to promote plant growth. Pyrola japonica forms arbutoid mycorrhizas without fungal mantles, allowing visual assessment of mycorrhizal development stages. Understanding how bacterial communities shift during mycorrhizal development is important for maintaining plant-fungal-bacterial associations.

Objective

This study investigated roles of rhizosphere bacteria and their community shifts along with mycorrhizal development stages in P. japonica. The research examined bacterial communities at three developmental stages—limited, full, and digested—to determine how mycorrhizal fungi influence bacterial community assembly.

Results

Bacterial α- and β-diversity were significantly lower in full mycorrhizal conditions compared to limited and digested conditions. Communities in full and digested conditions were regulated by stochastic processes only, while limited conditions involved both deterministic and stochastic processes. Mycorrhizal helper bacteria from orders Rhizobiales and Actinomycetales were characterized in full and digested conditions.

Conclusion

Mycorrhizal fungi function as temporal drivers initiating rhizosphere bacterial community formation and as key founders establishing priority effects. Rhizosphere bacterial communities persist after mycorrhizal degeneration, with historical continuity contributing to maintaining plant-mycorrhizal fungi-bacterial associations. This represents the first characterization of bacterial communities associated with arbutoid mycorrhizas.
  • Published in:Microbial Ecology,
  • Study Type:Original Research,
  • Source: 10.1007/s00248-025-02526-z; PMID: 40229524
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