ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Plant Symbiotic Interactions
This article is part of the Research TopicUnlocking Synergies Among Soil, Plants, Microbes, and Fungi: Innovative Strategies to Enhance Soil Health and Promote Plant GrowthView all 3 articles
Bacillus subtilis 8-32 Enhances Tomato Growth and Reshapes Rhizosphere Microbial Communities: Insights into Plant-Microbe Interactions
Provisionally accepted
- Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding, China
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Abstract: In previous studies, Bacillus subtilis 8-32 was screened for its potent antagonistic activity against pathogenic fungi and its high production of indole-3-acetic acid. In this study, we employed green fluorescent protein labeling to investigate the colonization dynamics of Bacillus subtilis 8-32 in tomato plants and its influence on the the rhizosphere microbial community structure. The results revealed that Bacillus subtilis 8-32 successfully colonized both the tomato root system and the surrounding soil. On days 14 and 21, the colonization levels in the root system reached 7.1130±0.0413 (log10 CFU/g), while in the soil, they were 6.4664 ± 0.03620 (log10 CFU/g) and 7.111± 0.0461 (log10 CFU/g), respectively. Tomato plants treated with Bacillus subtilis 8-32 seed soaking group (T1) and root-drenching group (T2) exhibited significant growth improvements compared to the control group (CK). Specifically, on day 14, the root length, root weight, stem length, and stem weight of T2 group increased by 19.96%, 381.81%, 39.97%, and 145.33%, respectively, compared to CK. Root vitality in the T2 group was 39.77%, 177.24%, and 171.16% higher on day 7, 14, and 21, respectively, while malondialdehyde content decreased by 24.60%, 34.18%, and 71.34%, over the period. Microbial diversity analysis revealed that Bacillus subtilis 8-32 did not significantly alter the community α-diversity (P>0.05), but selectively reshaped the community composition: it enriched beneficial bacterial taxa such as Proteobacteria, Bacteroidota, and Actinobacteriota, enhanced the functional diversity of Ascomycota, and concurrently reduced the abundance of pathogenic fungi within Basidiomycota. In conclusion, Bacillus subtilis 8-32 exerts growth-promoting effects on tomatoes through efficient colonization, regulation of rhizosphere microecological structure, and synergistic enhancement of plant stress resistance. This study provides theoretical basis and data support for its application as a microbial fertilizer in sustainable agriculture.
Keywords: Bacillus subtilis, colonization, growth promotion, microbial community, Tomato
Received: 16 Oct 2025; Accepted: 28 Jan 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Chen, Gao, Wang, Liu, Wang, Bai, Jiang and Zhu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Tongguo Gao
Hongquan Liu
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