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Poster

Session: Session 2 Presenting Authors at Posters (Odds)

P-243 - EcoFlow: A synthetic ecology approach for the exploration of root-exudate-mediated plant-microbiota interactions

Wednesday, July 16, 2025
13:30 - 15:15  
Location: Confex Hall 3
Nutrient exchange & role of metabolites in plant-microbe interactions
The rhizosphere and roots of plants are colonized by a plethora of microbes that interact with each other and with their host. Root exudates, the photoassimilates released by plants into their surroundings, are thought to be of major importance for the assembly of rhizosphere microbes as they can act as both signals and nutrient supply. There are, however, no widely used and accepted tools and procedures to harvest root exudates systematically from sterile plants nor is there a way to establish causal links between a stimulus, exudate composition, and microbiota function. Here, we fill in this gap by creating the EcoFlow concept: modular gnotobiotic hydroponic growth systems that can be connected to modular microbial bioreactors. This innovative synthetic ecology approach, based on standard laboratory equipment and some 3D printing, allows harvesting of root exudates continuously, non-destructively, and to test their effects on microbial communities in real time. We design large tractable multi-kingdom synthetic communities from natural plant culture collections and, through a combination of mass spectrometry, community profiling, and biotic/abiotic stress challenges, we illustrate how model plants such as Arabidopsis thaliana, Lotus japonicus, tomato, lettuce, and barley react to environmental stimuli in terms of root exudation and showcase the power of the EcoFlow concept to study plant-microbe and plant-plant communication.