{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"institution":[{"name":"bioRxiv"}],"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,23]],"date-time":"2026-10-23T21:20:31Z","timestamp":1792790431569,"version":"4.5.0"},"posted":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,28]]},"group-title":"Microbiology","reference-count":0,"publisher":"openRxiv","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,28]],"date-time":"2026-09-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1790553600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/www.biorxiv.org\/about\/FAQ#license"}],"funder":[{"name":"U.S. National Science Foundation","award":["IOS-2016351"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["IOS-2016351"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/021nxhr62","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"name":"U.S. National Science Foundation","award":["DBI-2051128"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["DBI-2051128"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/021nxhr62","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"name":"United States Department of Agriculture","award":["2022-67013-36672"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2022-67013-36672"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/01na82s61","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"name":"National Institute of General Medical Sciences","award":["P30GM145499"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["P30GM145499"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/04q48ey07","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"name":"National Institute of General Medical Sciences","award":["P20GM103418"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["P20GM103418"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/04q48ey07","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,28]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>\n                  Soil bacteria play a crucial role in supporting ecosystem health, yet little is known about how wild populations adapt to abiotic stressors, like limited water availability. We used 186\n                  <jats:italic>Luteibacter<\/jats:italic>\n                  isolates from maize roots grown in never-irrigated prairie soils collected from a steep precipitation gradient in Kansas, US to test whether climate history is associated with osmotic stress tolerance and genomic differentiation.\n                  <jats:italic>In vitro<\/jats:italic>\n                  , strains from semi-arid sites were more tolerant to osmotic-stress treatment than those from humid sites. Comparative genomics of a subset of 96 isolates identified four strongly biogeographically structured lineages and extensive accessory-genome diversity. Semi-arid climate-associated strains were enriched for genes involved in osmotic homeostasis, oxidative stress protection, motility, and type IV secretion. Humid climate-associated strains were enriched in environmental sensing, metabolic versatility, biofilm formation, iron acquisition, type VI secretion, and resource competition. GWAS identified 22 candidate genes associated with osmotic-stress tolerance, including those related to type IV pili, biofilm production, DNA repair, and phage. No candidates were shared between semi-arid and humid strains, suggesting distinct genetic mechanisms of osmotic tolerance. Predicted prophage composition was also geographically structured, although total prophage gene content did not predict osmotic-stress tolerance. Together, these results show that adaptation to long-term differences in water availability likely involves coordinated shifts in stress physiology, genome content, and ecological interactions in wild bacterial populations, providing insight into predicting microbial responses to changing climates.\n                <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.64898\/2026.09.27.754828","type":"posted-content","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,29]],"date-time":"2026-09-29T04:40:16Z","timestamp":1790656816000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Wild\n                  <i>Luteibacter<\/i>\n                  populations exhibit climate-associated divergence and distinct genomic strategies for osmotic stress tolerance"],"prefix":"10.64898","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3589-4767","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nichole","family":"Ginnan","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"University of California, Riverside;"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Carmen","family":"Rodriguez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The Ohio State University;"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Brian J","family":"Sanderson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Kansas;"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Felicity","family":"Tso","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Drexel University;"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Natalie E","family":"Ford","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Pennsylvania State University;"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6904-0287","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Manuel","family":"Kleiner","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"North Carolina State University"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6924-7226","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Maggie R","family":"Wagner","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Kansas;"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"54368","container-title":[],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/syndication.highwire.org\/content\/doi\/10.64898\/2026.09.27.754828","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,29]],"date-time":"2026-09-29T04:40:16Z","timestamp":1790656816000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"http:\/\/biorxiv.org\/lookup\/doi\/10.64898\/2026.09.27.754828"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,28]]},"references-count":0,"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.64898\/2026.09.27.754828","relation":{},"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,28]]},"subtype":"preprint"}}