β-Elemonic acid mediated enrichment of Paenibacillus to help Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge alleviate drought stress

Abstract Background Microorganisms can improve the adaptability of crops to drought and high-temperature stress. However, the changes of rhizosphere microbial communities under climate stress and the potential mechanisms driving microbial changes remain poorly understood. Results In this study, the...

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Main Authors: Hong-Mei Jia, Jie Zhou, Wen-Cheng Zhao, Dong-Mei He, Zhu-Yun Yan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2025-06-01
Series:Microbiome
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s40168-025-02154-2
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author Hong-Mei Jia
Jie Zhou
Wen-Cheng Zhao
Dong-Mei He
Zhu-Yun Yan
author_facet Hong-Mei Jia
Jie Zhou
Wen-Cheng Zhao
Dong-Mei He
Zhu-Yun Yan
author_sort Hong-Mei Jia
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Background Microorganisms can improve the adaptability of crops to drought and high-temperature stress. However, the changes of rhizosphere microbial communities under climate stress and the potential mechanisms driving microbial changes remain poorly understood. Results In this study, the medicinal plant Salvia miltiorrhiza was used as the research object. ITS, 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing, and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry-based metabolomics were integrated to investigate its physiological and biochemical responses to drought, high-temperature, and combined drought-high temperature under greenhouse. Additionally, we determined the seedling weight, leaf water content, active ingredient content of underground part, and the content of chlorophyll, leaf nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. The results demonstrated that microorganisms can alleviate stress by enhancing the water retention capacity of S. miltiorrhiza leaves; TD group increased by about 13%, promoting nutrient absorption; and the chlorophyll content of group D increased by about 78%, boosting photosynthetic efficiency and increasing the levels of stress-resistant compounds. We found that bacteria exhibited greater sensitivity to climatic stress factors, with Paenibacillus being significantly enriched only in the stress-treated group. Moreover, the synthetic community comprising Paenibacillus was confirmed to help S. miltiorrhiza alleviate drought stress. We further found that β-elemonic acid, a triterpene acid secreted by plant roots, specifically enriched Paenibacillus under drought stress. In addition, β-elemonic acid significantly promoted the growth of S. miltiorrhiza in the presence of Paenibacillus under drought stress. Conclusions Our findings suggest that S. miltiorrhiza enrich beneficial Paenibacillus to combat drought stress through the secretion of the key metabolite β-elemonic acid. Video Abstract
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spelling doaj-art-8d161f1268bc480592baebfe5fce0d082025-08-20T03:27:10ZengBMCMicrobiome2049-26182025-06-0113111710.1186/s40168-025-02154-2β-Elemonic acid mediated enrichment of Paenibacillus to help Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge alleviate drought stressHong-Mei Jia0Jie Zhou1Wen-Cheng Zhao2Dong-Mei He3Zhu-Yun Yan4State Key Laboratory of Southwestern Chinese Medicine Resources, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese MedicineState Key Laboratory of Southwestern Chinese Medicine Resources, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese MedicineState Key Laboratory of Southwestern Chinese Medicine Resources, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese MedicineState Key Laboratory of Southwestern Chinese Medicine Resources, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese MedicineState Key Laboratory of Southwestern Chinese Medicine Resources, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese MedicineAbstract Background Microorganisms can improve the adaptability of crops to drought and high-temperature stress. However, the changes of rhizosphere microbial communities under climate stress and the potential mechanisms driving microbial changes remain poorly understood. Results In this study, the medicinal plant Salvia miltiorrhiza was used as the research object. ITS, 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing, and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry-based metabolomics were integrated to investigate its physiological and biochemical responses to drought, high-temperature, and combined drought-high temperature under greenhouse. Additionally, we determined the seedling weight, leaf water content, active ingredient content of underground part, and the content of chlorophyll, leaf nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. The results demonstrated that microorganisms can alleviate stress by enhancing the water retention capacity of S. miltiorrhiza leaves; TD group increased by about 13%, promoting nutrient absorption; and the chlorophyll content of group D increased by about 78%, boosting photosynthetic efficiency and increasing the levels of stress-resistant compounds. We found that bacteria exhibited greater sensitivity to climatic stress factors, with Paenibacillus being significantly enriched only in the stress-treated group. Moreover, the synthetic community comprising Paenibacillus was confirmed to help S. miltiorrhiza alleviate drought stress. We further found that β-elemonic acid, a triterpene acid secreted by plant roots, specifically enriched Paenibacillus under drought stress. In addition, β-elemonic acid significantly promoted the growth of S. miltiorrhiza in the presence of Paenibacillus under drought stress. Conclusions Our findings suggest that S. miltiorrhiza enrich beneficial Paenibacillus to combat drought stress through the secretion of the key metabolite β-elemonic acid. Video Abstracthttps://doi.org/10.1186/s40168-025-02154-2S. miltiorrhizaPaenibacillusβ-elemonic acidDroughtDrought-high temperature
spellingShingle Hong-Mei Jia
Jie Zhou
Wen-Cheng Zhao
Dong-Mei He
Zhu-Yun Yan
β-Elemonic acid mediated enrichment of Paenibacillus to help Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge alleviate drought stress
Microbiome
S. miltiorrhiza
Paenibacillus
β-elemonic acid
Drought
Drought-high temperature
title β-Elemonic acid mediated enrichment of Paenibacillus to help Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge alleviate drought stress
title_full β-Elemonic acid mediated enrichment of Paenibacillus to help Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge alleviate drought stress
title_fullStr β-Elemonic acid mediated enrichment of Paenibacillus to help Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge alleviate drought stress
title_full_unstemmed β-Elemonic acid mediated enrichment of Paenibacillus to help Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge alleviate drought stress
title_short β-Elemonic acid mediated enrichment of Paenibacillus to help Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge alleviate drought stress
title_sort β elemonic acid mediated enrichment of paenibacillus to help salvia miltiorrhiza bunge alleviate drought stress
topic S. miltiorrhiza
Paenibacillus
β-elemonic acid
Drought
Drought-high temperature
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s40168-025-02154-2
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