Rewilding rice microbiome to enhance grain yield | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Rewilding rice microbiome to enhance grain yield Zhen-Zhu Su, Wanting Li, Wenxiu Zheng, Yiling Wu, Qinping Zhu, and 8 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9102176/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Reintroducing microbes enriched in wild rice presents a promising strategy to restore the depleted plant-microbiome partnerships in cultivated rice. However, the mechanisms underlying microbiome rewilding to enhance nutrient uptake and yield have not been investigated. Here, we firstly compared the microbiome traits of three kinds of wild rice species, Oryza rufipogon, O. officinalis, and O. granulata. It was shown that O. granulata possessed the broadest taxonomic composition with Magnaporthaceae as the dominant taxon. We isolated 248 endophytic fungi from O. granulata, and obtained one growth-promoting endophytic strain identified as Falciphora oryzae. Reintroducing F. oryzae into the cultivar rice crop increased grain yield by 12.43 %, and significantly reshaped the rice microbiota by recruiting Nitrospira. F. oryzae produced cyanotryptamine to recruit Nitrospira, thereby enhancing nitrification in rice rhizosphere soil. FoOxd played a crucial role in cyanotryptamine production, contributing to the attraction of Nitrospira. These findings present a novel strategy of microbiome rewilding by reintroducing wild rice-derived endophytes into cultivated rice, highlighting the potential of symbiotic microbiota-driven enhancement of N acquisition and grain yield. Biological sciences/Ecology/Agroecology Biological sciences/Ecology/Microbial ecology Wild rice Microbiome Endophytic fungi Nitrification Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files Supplementary.pdf Supplementary Figure SupplementaryTable.pdf Supplementary Table Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9102176","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":609653315,"identity":"3cd18156-6836-4279-ae5a-f67eaf6bc0f4","order_by":0,"name":"Zhen-Zhu 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