Simultaneously enhancing plant growth and immunity through the application of engineered Bacillus subtilis expressing a microbial pattern

Simultaneously enhancing plant growth and disease resistance is an ideal goal in agriculture. Significant efforts have been made to promote plant growth or immunity through the use of biological reagents, such as the application of beneficial microbes and plant immunity inducers. However, balancing plant immunity and growth remains a challenging task. In this study, we engineered the plant growth-promoting bacterium Bacillus subtilis OKB105 to express a secreted microbial pattern, flg22, and assessed its activity in enhancing both plant growth and disease resistance. The OKB105 (flg22) strain exhibited plant growth-promoting activity similar to the OKB105 strain containing an empty vector, OKB105 (EV). Furthermore, the OKB105 (flg22) strain significantly enhanced plant resistance against two distinct pathogens, Pseudomonas syringae DC3000 ΔhopQ1-1 and Phytophthora parasitica, compared to OKB105 (EV), confirming that the engineered OKB105 (flg22) effectively enhances plant disease resistance. Interestingly, root irrigation with OKB105 (flg22) also markedly boosted the plant’s aboveground resistance to pathogens compared to OKB105 (EV). We further demonstrated that OKB105 (flg22) can be applied to confer resistance to pathogens in other plants that recognize flg22. Finally, RNA-Seq and qRT-PCR analyses illustrated that OKB105 (flg22) effectively induced the expression of defense-related genes in pattern-triggered immunity. Our results prove that employing an engineered beneficial microbe expressing a microbial pattern is a promising strategy for simultaneously enhancing plant growth and immunity.