Elucidating homoserine lactone-mediated interbacterial interactions in plant growth-promoting rhizobacterial consortia

The goal of this project is to understand how microbial activity in the root zone of the crop plant sorghum impacts the plant’s ability to grow and utilize nitrogen. Results of this work may be used to engineer plant-associating microbial communities to enhance crop yield, plant hardiness, and for efficient cultivation practices. This project will enhance U.S. national security and economic competitiveness by analyzing a promising system for improving crop yield and crop resiliency. This project will also train and help build the future STEM workforce by providing scientific education and research training to early career scientists and students. This project aims to elucidate homoserine lactone-mediated interbacterial signaling in the rhizosphere and its effects on bacterial community structure and function that impact nitrogen cycling in the soil to support plant growth and health. This project will study a sorghum plant system with growth-promoting bacterial communities. Experiments will utilize a multi-omics approach, bacterial strains with controllable signaling, and synthetic bacterial communities to study these microbial interactions in the root zone of sorghum during its growth. This project combines approaches from synthetic biology and systems biology to improve understanding of quorum sensing in the rhizosphere. Key research objectives are to understand the response of the root-associated microbial communities to diverse homoserine lactone signals, decipher the ability for rhizobacteria to communicate via diverse homoserine lactones, and characterize the effects of this interbacterial communication in the rhizosphere for plant growth conditions. This knowledge will provide the foundation for studying and predicting the breadth of bacterial intercellular communication in the rhizosphere and its effects on the rhizomicrobiome, plant growth, and nutrient availability in the soil. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.