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THOR Rhizosphere Model Community

Community ID CommunityMech:000079
Ecological State ENGINEERED
Environment rhizosphere
ENVO:00005801

The Hitchhikers Of the Rhizosphere (THOR) is a genetically tractable three-member model microbiome assembled from Bacillus cereus, Pseudomonas koreensis, and Flavobacterium johnsoniae. The community was developed from rhizosphere-associated isolates to study microbial community assembly, competition, biofilm formation, secondary metabolism, and higher-order interactions under controlled laboratory conditions. P. koreensis produces the antibiotic koreenceine, which inhibits F. johnsoniae and drives community transcriptional responses, while B. cereus modulates antibiotic production and participates in emergent colony expansion and biofilm phenotypes.

Taxonomy

Taxon Ontology ID Functional Roles Abundance
Bacillus cereus UW85 NCBITaxon:1396
SYNTROPHIC_PARTNER
N/A
  • PMID:30837345 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "designated THOR, containing Pseudomonas koreensis, Flavobacterium johnsoniae, and Bacillus cereus"
Pseudomonas koreensis CI12 NCBITaxon:198620
SYNTROPHIC_PARTNER
N/A
  • PMID:35435700 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "composed of three species-Bacillus cereus, Flavobacterium johnsoniae, and Pseudomonas koreensis"
Flavobacterium johnsoniae UW101 NCBITaxon:986
SYNTROPHIC_PARTNER
N/A
  • PMID:35435700 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "co-isolate from field-grown soybean roots"

Ecological Interactions

Ecological interaction network for THOR Rhizosphere Model Community Bipartite graph where circle nodes represent taxa and colored rectangles represent ecological interactions (cross-feeding, mutualism, syntrophy, competition, commensalism).
Taxon
Cross-feeding
Mutualism
Syntrophy
Competition
Commensalism
Niche partitioning
Colonization facilitation
Strain competition
Predation

Koreenceine-Mediated Inhibition

COMPETITION

Source Taxon: Pseudomonas koreensis CI12

Target Taxon: Flavobacterium johnsoniae UW101

Metabolites: koreenceine (CHEBI:35222)

Biological Processes:

  • interspecies interaction between organisms (GO:0044419)
Downstream Effects:
→ Flavobacterium johnsoniae population response

Evidence

  • PMID:30837345 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "P. koreensis produces a novel family of alkaloid antibiotics that inhibit growth of F. johnsoniae"
  • PMID:35435700 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "mediated either directly or indirectly by its production of the antibiotic koreenceine"

Bacillus Modulation of Pseudomonas Antibiotic Production

COLONIZATION_FACILITATION

Source Taxon: Bacillus cereus UW85

Target Taxon: Pseudomonas koreensis CI12

Metabolites: koreenceine (CHEBI:35222)

Biological Processes:

  • negative regulation of biological process (GO:0048519)

Evidence

  • PMID:30837345 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "production is inhibited by B. cereus"

Emergent Three-Member Biofilm Formation

COLONIZATION_FACILITATION

Biological Processes:

Evidence

  • PMID:30837345 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "production of more robust biofilms by the three members together than individually"

Associated Datasets

Dataset Type Repository Accession
THOR comparative metatranscriptomics
Comparative metatranscriptomics study of THOR pairwise and full-community interactions. 		METATRANSCRIPTOME OTHER PMID:35435700

Environmental Factors

Factor Value Unit
Rhizosphere Origin Field-grown soybean root/rhizosphere-associated isolates N/A
  • PMID:35435700 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "co-isolate from field-grown soybean roots"
Laboratory Coculture Defined pairwise and three-member coculture N/A
  • PMID:35435700 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "When grown in pairs, each member of THOR exhibits unique signaling behavior"