Tobacco Root Endophytic <i>Arthrobacter</i> Harbors Genomic Features Enabling the Catabolism of Host-Specific Plant Specialized Metabolites
Tomohisa Shimasaki, Sachiko Masuda, Rubén Garrido‐Oter, Takashi Kawasaki, Yuichi Aoki, Arisa Shibata, Wataru Suda, Ken Shirasu, Kazufumi Yazaki, Ryohei Thomas Nakano, Akifumi Sugiyama
Abstract
Host secondary metabolites have a crucial effect on the taxonomic composition of its associated microbiota. It is estimated that a single plant species produces hundreds of secondary metabolites; however, whether different classes of metabolites have distinctive or common roles in the microbiota assembly remains unclear. Here, we show that two unrelated classes of secondary metabolites in tobacco play a cooperative role in the formation of tobacco-specific compositions of the root bacterial microbiota, which has been established as a consequence of independent evolutionary events in plants and bacteria triggered by different ecological effects. Our findings illustrate mechanistic and evolutionary aspects of the microbiota assembly that are mediated by an arsenal of plant secondary metabolites.