A fungal-engineered biofertilizer restructures the rhizosphere microbiome through enrichment of competitive plant growth-promoting bacteria to enhance plant growth

The rhizosphere serves as a critical hotspot for plant-microbe interactions, where plants recruit and enrich beneficial microbial communities through root exudates. Functioning as a central interface in soil-plant systems, rhizosphere microorganisms are essential for sustaining soil fertility and promoting plant growth via nutrient cycling, synthesis of phyto-stimulants, and pathogen suppression. Exogenous organic amendments, such as composts, can further enhance plant nutrient acquisition and stress resilience by modulating the composition and functional dynamics of rhizosphere microbiomes,including shifts in dominant taxa, gene expression profiles, and microbial network interactions. Despite these insights, the effects of brown rot fungal compost (BBF), a novel biofertilizer with pronounced lignin-degrading and humus-forming capacities, on the reassembly of the rhizosphere microbiome and its consequent mechanisms in regulating plant growth remain poorly understood.