The root exudates of wild tomato compared to a modern variety maintain elevated soluble soil phosphorous by interacting with rhizohsphere micobiota

Authors: DIXON, MARY - Colorado State University; AFKAIRIN, ANTISAR - Colorado State University; Manter, Daniel; GODFREY, JANE - Colorado State University; Hamm, Alison; MUNOZ, NATHALIE - Pacific Northwest National Laboratory; BLOODSWORTH, KENT - Pacific Northwest National Laboratory; BALASUBRAMANIAN, VIMAL - Pacific Northwest National Laboratory; BUCHANAN, CASSIDY - Colorado State University; IPPOLITO, JAMES - The Ohio State University; BURNET, MEAGAN - Pacific Northwest National Laboratory; VIVANCO, JORGE - Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Submitted to: Scientific Reports
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/5/2026
Publication Date: 6/15/2026
Citation: Dixon, M.M., Afkairin, A., Manter, D.K., Godfrey, J., Hamm, A.K., Munoz, N., Bloodsworth, K., Balasubramanian, V., Buchanan, C., Ippolito, J., Burnet, M., Vivanco, J.M. 2026. The root exudates of wild tomato compared to a modern variety maintain elevated soluble soil phosphorous by interacting with rhizohsphere micobiota. Scientific Reports. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-57400-w.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-57400-w

Interpretive Summary: In times of high fertility, wild tomato maintains bio-available soil phosphorus (P) through its stimulation and activity of the rhizosphere microbiome. In contrast, modern crop relatives, like the modern tomato in this study, express resource acquisitive strategies and take up nutrients rapidly. They are adapted to grow in highly fertile conditions and rely on quick uptake of nutrients when they are available. This finding of divergent strategies in wild and modern tomato is valuable because P from fertilizers is easily lost from soil solution from retention reactions. The microbially-dominated strategy of the wild tomato helps to maintain soluble P in the soil and thus can be utilized in agriculture by selecting for these resource strategies in modern crop selections.

Technical Abstract: Wild plants are periodically exposed to nutrient flushes, whereas modern cultivars are acclimated to regular nutrition from fertilizers. Here, we explore how a wild relative of a modern crop deals with flushes of phosphorus (P) fertilizer in the soil. We grew a wild and a modern tomato in P-fertilized soil and found that the modern tomato promoted fewer P-solubilizing microbes and depleted soil P. Conversely, wild tomato had slower growth rates and P uptake along with a greater promotion of a diverse array of soil bacteria, measured by full-length 16S amplicon sequencing These bacteria included P solubilizers which resulted in higher residual pools of bioavailable P in the soil. This microbial strategy by wild tomato was likely driven by its root exudate profile, which was enriched in trehalose and glycerol compounds that we show can promote bacterial-mediated P solubilization. In a second trial, we grew modern tomato in P-fertilized soils that had either a wild or modern tomato planted previously. Modern tomato grown in wild tomato-conditioned soils showed increased biomass compared to those grown in modern tomato-conditioned soils. The biomass increases may be principally associated with residual bioavailable P from the wild tomato conditioning as the microbial community changes from the wild tomato were not maintained under by the modern tomato variety. The differing responses in tomato varieties in response to nutrient flushes provide valuable insight to enhance P bioavailability. The microbially-dominated strategy of the wild tomato helps to maintain soluble P in the soil and thus can be utilized in agriculture.