Tryptophan-driven metabolomic shift in Acidobacteriaceae reveals phytohormones and antifungal metabolites
- 1Institute for Insect Biotechnology with Focus on Natural Product Research, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, Giessen, Germany
- 2Natural Product Department, Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology (IME-BR), Giessen, Germany
- 3German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Partner Site Giessen-Marburg-Langen, Giessen, Germany
Abstract
Acidobacteriota is one of the most abundant phyla in soils and has recently attracted attention for its potential role in promoting phytosanitary benefits. The metabolomic capabilities of this phylum remain poorly characterized, with few experimentally confirmed metabolites described. To address these gaps, we combined untargeted metabolomic profiling with comparative genomic analyses to explore the functional potential of newly isolated Acidobacteriaceae strains. Genome mining across the Acidobacteriota phylum revealed the presence and taxon-specific enrichment of genes associated with plant-related traits, including phytohormone biosynthesis. In parallel, metabolomic analyses of OSMAC-derived extracts uncovered pronounced condition-dependent metabolic variation. Tryptophan supplementation was associated with marked metabolomic reprogramming, including changes in indole-derived metabolites, such as indole-3-acetic acid. Subsequent analyses linked these metabolic shifts to the suppression of phytopathogenic fungi and enabled the identification of malassezindoles and pityriacitrins as active compounds, confirmed by structure elucidation using NMR spectroscopy. Overall, these findings shed light on the previously unexplored metabolic potential of the Acidobacteriota phylum, emphasizing its ecological importance for phytosanitary applications.
IMPORTANCE: Despite their ubiquity and genomic diversity, the functional metabolism of members of the Acidobacteriota has largely remained uncharacterized. This study links genomic predictions to experimentally verified metabolomic outputs of Acidobacteriaceae, demonstrating tryptophan-responsive metabolic shifts translating to phytohormones and metabolites suppressing fungal growth. Our work underscores the emerging role of Acidobacteriota as important contributors to soil ecosystem functioning and plant–microbe interactions.
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BibTeX
@article{zumkeller2026tryptophandriven,
title = {{Tryptophan-driven metabolomic shift in Acidobacteriaceae reveals phytohormones and antifungal metabolites}},
author = {Celine M. Zumkeller and Christoph Hartwig and Walter Lanzalonga and Maria A. Patras and Yang Liu and Michael Marner and Sanja Mihajlovic and Marius S. Spohn and Till F. Schäberle},
journal = {mSystems},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1128/msystems.00828-26},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1128/msystems.00828-26},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Tryptophan-driven metabolomic shift in Acidobacteriaceae reveals phytohormones and antifungal metabolites
AU - Celine M. Zumkeller
AU - Christoph Hartwig
AU - Walter Lanzalonga
AU - Maria A. Patras
AU - Yang Liu
AU - Michael Marner
AU - Sanja Mihajlovic
AU - Marius S. Spohn
AU - Till F. Schäberle
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/14
JO - mSystems
DO - 10.1128/msystems.00828-26
UR - https://doi.org/10.1128/msystems.00828-26
AB - Acidobacteriota is one of the most abundant phyla in soils and has recently attracted attention for its potential role in promoting phytosanitary benefits. The metabolomic capabilities of this phylum remain poorly characterized, with few experimentally confirmed metabolites described. To address these gaps, we combined untargeted metabolomic profiling with comparative genomic analyses to explore the functional potential of newly isolated Acidobacteriaceae strains. Genome mining across the Acidobacteriota phylum revealed the presence and taxon-specific enrichment of genes associated with plant-related traits, including phytohormone biosynthesis. In parallel, metabolomic analyses of OSMAC-derived extracts uncovered pronounced condition-dependent metabolic variation. Tryptophan supplementation was associated with marked metabolomic reprogramming, including changes in indole-derived metabolites, such as indole-3-acetic acid. Subsequent analyses linked these metabolic shifts to the suppression of phytopathogenic fungi and enabled the identification of malassezindoles and pityriacitrins as active compounds, confirmed by structure elucidation using NMR spectroscopy. Overall, these findings shed light on the previously unexplored metabolic potential of the Acidobacteriota phylum, emphasizing its ecological importance for phytosanitary applications. IMPORTANCE: Despite their ubiquity and genomic diversity, the functional metabolism of members of the Acidobacteriota has largely remained uncharacterized. This study links genomic predictions to experimentally verified metabolomic outputs of Acidobacteriaceae, demonstrating tryptophan-responsive metabolic shifts translating to phytohormones and metabolites suppressing fungal growth. Our work underscores the emerging role of Acidobacteriota as important contributors to soil ecosystem functioning and plant–microbe interactions.
SN - 2379-5077
ER -