Original title: The PSR signaling pathway facilitates enrichment of P-solubilizing Burkholderia to enhance P acquisition in soybean
Soybean plants need phosphorus, but sometimes the soil does not provide enough. The researchers found that low phosphorus activates a plant signaling pathway called PSR and increases the share of Burkholderia bacteria near soybean roots. The pathway appears to change the amount of malate, a substance released by roots, helping attract bacteria that can free up phosphorus. A plant regulator called GmPHR33 and a protein called GmALMT29 are involved in this process.
Imagine setting out food scraps to attract helpful birds to your garden. The hard part is getting the right birds to show up where they can help. In this paper, the soybean changes what its roots release when phosphorus is scarce, and that change helps bring phosphorus-releasing bacteria near the roots.
Phosphorus is a nutrient plants need, and low phosphorus can limit soybean growth. This work points to a way soybeans may recruit nearby bacteria that make phosphorus more available, which could help plants cope with phosphorus-poor conditions.
The abstract reports changes in bacterial abundance and links them to phosphorus acquisition, but it does not give the size of the effects or establish how well this mechanism works across soybean varieties, soils, or farming conditions.
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The PSR signaling pathway facilitates enrichment of P-solubilizing Burkholderia to enhance P acquisition in soybean — Xiaoqian Wang, Jianfeng Lei, Kefei Zhang et al. — Microbiome — doi:10.1186/s40168-026-02555-x
Abstract licence: CC BY
Explanation generated by Synthesis from the abstract — it is not the original paper.