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Biofertilizer induces soil disease suppression by activating pathogen suppressive protist taxa


Abstract

Given the increasing demand for sustainable agricultural solutions utilizing the microbiome, particularly the use of biofertilizer (BF), it is essential to understand the mode of action and the role of predatory protists, along with their interactions with biocontrol strains and resident community members. We therefore examined these interactions through a long-term field experiment and a series of greenhouse and pot experiments. In field and greenhouse studies, we observed that Bacillus significantly stimulated the growth of Cercomonas, a genus of predatory protists, in the soil. In turn, these protists promoted the growth of Bacillus, leading to increased detection of polyketide synthase (PKS) genes and the inhibition of bacterial wilt pathogen Ralstonia solanacearum. We here reveal a positive feedback loop between the biocontrol agent Bacillus and predatory protists, which explains the biofertilizer-induced reduction of plant pathogens. These findings highlight the significance of synergistic interactions between functional microbes and predatory protists in suppressing soil-borne diseases. Moreover, it underscores the potential of incorporating predator-prey interactions into agricultural practices to foster more sustainable ecosystem development.

Data availability

The raw experimental data are available in the NCBI Sequence Read Archive (SRA) under the PRJNA1231490.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Nanjing Institute of Vegetable Science for permission to use the field site. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (42277294, and 42307171), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (KTTQ2025018), the Postdoctoral Science Foundation of China (2023M731724), the key project at central government level: theability establishment of sustainable use for valuable Chinese medicine resources (2060302), and the Priority Academic Program Development of the Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions (PAPD). The authors sincerely thank Syngenta for the studentship awarded to Xin Pei.

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X.P., R.L., Q.S., S.G., D.T., and G.A. wrote the manuscript. X.P., R.L., Z.G., S.G., X.D., and N.Z. developed the ideas and designed the experimental plans. X.P., N.Z., R.L., Y.W., Y.W., and W.H. performed the experiments. X.P., R.L., and Y.Y. analyzed the data. The authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Rong Li.

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Pei, X., Zhang, N., Deng, X. et al. Biofertilizer induces soil disease suppression by activating pathogen suppressive protist taxa.
npj Biofilms Microbiomes (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41522-025-00897-2

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