{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,1]],"date-time":"2026-09-01T02:13:02Z","timestamp":1788228782239,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":48,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,31]],"date-time":"2026-08-31T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1788134400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Life"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Acidic soils are widespread in global agroforestry systems and severely constrain crop production through proton stress, aluminum\/manganese phytotoxicity, phosphorus fixation, and rhizosphere microbiome reassembly. Rhizosphere diazotrophs can theoretically contribute to plant nitrogen (N) nutrition and stress adaptation. However, their N-fixation efficiency and growth-promoting effects in acidic soils are often highly unstable, limiting the predictability of field applications. This narrative mechanistic review synthesizes and critically interprets evidence on the physicochemical filters governing diazotroph survival in acidic soils, nitrogenase regulation, root-exudate-mediated recruitment, multi-guild microbial interactions, and the conditional design of synthetic microbial communities (SynComs) and inoculant formulations. We further discuss the potential complementary roles of phosphate-solubilizing bacteria (PSB) and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and propose minimum reporting standards to improve field translatability. The synthesis indicates that effective diazotroph-mediated crop promotion depends on pH buffering, metal detoxification, carbon supply, phosphorus availability, host compatibility, and native microbiome receptivity. The proposed evidence-chain and microbiome-compatibility framework is a conceptual guide for evaluating these linked conditions rather than an empirically validated predictive model.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/life16091460","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,1]],"date-time":"2026-09-01T01:05:26Z","timestamp":1788224726000},"page":"1460","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Rhizosphere Diazotrophs in Acidic Agroecosystems: An Evidence-Chain and Microbiome-Compatibility Framework for Stabilizing Crop Growth Promotion"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Qingye","family":"Yu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Forestry, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang 330045, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yadi","family":"Yu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Forestry, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang 330045, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lvshui","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Forestry, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang 330045, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Wei","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Forestry, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang 330045, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hui","family":"Zeng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Forestry, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang 330045, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0002-4425-6182","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kewen","family":"Gong","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Forestry, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang 330045, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Feiyang","family":"Xiong","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Forestry, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang 330045, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Qin","family":"Ying","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Forestry, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang 330045, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nansheng","family":"Wu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Innovation Alliance of <i>Choerospondias axillaris<\/i>, Nanchang 330045, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ling","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Forestry, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang 330045, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,31]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"14","DOI":"10.1016\/j.pedsph.2022.10.001","article-title":"Molecular mechanisms of plant adaptation to acid soils: A review","volume":"33","author":"Che","year":"2023","journal-title":"Pedosphere"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"108827","DOI":"10.1016\/j.fcr.2023.108827","article-title":"Model-based optimal management strategies to mitigate soil acidification and minimize nutrient losses for croplands","volume":"292","author":"Xu","year":"2023","journal-title":"Field Crops Res."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"fuaf008","DOI":"10.1093\/femsre\/fuaf008","article-title":"Plant exudates-driven microbiome recruitment and assembly facilitates plant health management","volume":"49","author":"Yang","year":"2025","journal-title":"FEMS Microbiol. 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