Compost-associated microbiota modulates root transcriptional responses and enhances tomato drought resilience

Compost treatment of tomato Solanum lycopersicum cv. Micro-Tom upregulated root pathways for growth, nutrient metabolism, and stress responses, distinct from sterile compost and NPK.

• Why it matters: It remains unclear whether compost’s stress benefits come from its chemistry or its resident microbes, especially for drought resilience in tomato roots.
• What they did: Tomato plants were grown with compost, sterile compost, or NPK with equivalent macronutrient inputs; leaf physiology and root RNA sequencing were assessed, followed by a drought stress test plus substrate water-retention measurements.
• The result: Under severe water stress, compost-treated plants retained the highest photosynthetic efficiency and compost had the highest available water content versus the other treatments, suggesting compost-associated microbiota and water availability jointly support drought resilience.

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