Horizontal acquisition of nicotine catabolism gene cluster enhances Arthrobacter fitness within tobacco root microbiota

NAKANO Ryohei Thomas

Department of Biological Sciences

Jul. 28, 2026

図1. （a）アルスロバクターによるニコチン分解経路。（b）ニコチン⾮分解変異株の作出。ニコチン分 解遺伝⼦の⼀部を破壊することでニコチンを分解しない変異株が得られた。（c）グルコース及び（d） ニコチン培地におけるアルスロバクターの増殖。グルコース培地では野⽣株と変異株のどちらも増殖 できるが、変異株はニコチン培地で増殖できない。

Joint press release (in Japanese) by Hokkaido University, Institute of Physical and Chemical Research, Kyoto University

Abstract
Plant roots are hotspots for interactions with soil microbes, where a characteristic bacterial community structure is formed. Plant specialized metabolites often play pivotal roles in this assembly process. However, the molecular basis underlying root microbiota responses to these bioactive compounds, and how such metabolic interactions shape the assembly of host-specific root microbiota, remain largely unknown. Nicotine is a toxic alkaloid predominantly produced by the genus Nicotiana, and the genus Arthrobacter is known as one of the nicotine-degrading bacteria in the tobacco root microbiota. In this study, we used the tobacco–Arthrobacter interaction system as a model and integrated comparative genomics and experimental genetic manipulation assays to uncover the role of bacterial catabolism capacity for host specialized metabolites in shaping host-specific root microbiota.

Our findings illustrated….

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Article Information:
Horizontal acquisition of nicotine catabolism gene cluster enhances Arthrobacter fitness within tobacco root microbiota, Tomohisa Shimasaki, Yui Nose, Sachiko Masuda, Arisa Shibata, Tsubasa Shoji, Shuhei Yabe, Maiko Furubayashi, Yoshitomo Kikuchi, Ken Shirasu, Kazufumi Yazaki, Yasunori Ichihashi, Akifumi Sugiyama & Ryohei Thomas Nakano, Microbiome (2026)
DOI：10.1186/s40168-026-02466-x