Lipopeptides as rhizosphere public goods for microbial cooperation

Here, we provide new insights into the possible fate of cyclic lipopeptides as prominent specialized metabolites from beneficial bacilli and pseudomonads once released in the soil. Our data illustrate how the B. velezensis lipopeptidome may be enzymatically remodeled by Streptomyces as important members of the soil bacterial community. The enzymatic arsenal of S. venezuelae enables an unsuspected extensive degradation of these compounds, allowing the bacterium to feed on these exogenous products via a mechanism going beyond linearization, which was previously reported as a detoxification strategy. As soils are carbon-rich and nitrogen-poor environments, we propose a new role for cyclic lipopeptides in interspecies interactions, which is to fuel the nitrogen metabolism of a part of the rhizosphere microbial community. Streptomyces and other actinomycetes, producing numerous peptidases and displaying several traits of beneficial bacteria, should be at the front line to directly benefit from these metabolites as "public goods" for microbial cooperation.