PubMed · 2026-06-06
Researchers developed a scoring system to identify the best 'prebiotic' supplements for soil bacteria, finding that palmitic acid, proline, and glucose help beneficial microbes colonize plant roots more effectively — boosting seedling growth and helping maize cope with salt stress.
Screening 12 prebiotic candidates using four measurable bacterial traits (motility, chemotaxis, growth rate, and generation time) identified palmitic acid, proline, and glucose as top performers.
Plants treated with top-ranked prebiotics showed enhanced salt stress tolerance, including reduced leaf electrolyte leakage and increased chlorophyll and proline accumulation.
The prebiotic-boosted bacterial communities significantly improved root colonization and soil enzyme activity in maize seedlings compared to controls.
