Summary
Straw return is considered an effective approach to increase soil organic carbon (SOC) and improve soil multifunctionality (SMF), yet the relatively low humification rate under field conditions limits these benefits. The application of synthetic microbial communities (SynComs) represents a promising strategy for promoting straw humification. Nevertheless, challenges remain in designing functionally stable SynComs for straw humification. Here, by combining progressive dilution-microcosm cultivation with co-occurrence network and functional analyses, we identified keystone taxa that promoted maize straw humification in the microcosm. From these taxa, we constructed a two-membered SynCom (<i>Bacillus siamensis</i> B and <i>Bradyrhizobium japonicum</i> G). By cross-feeding, SynCom members enab
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