Microbial inoculants are central to sustainable agriculture; however, the vulnerability of bacterial cells to desiccation represents a fundamental barrier to their effective use in open-environment applications. While nature employs extracellular polymeric substances for protection, synthetic replication of this multifunctional, nanoscale interface remains a challenge. Here, we report a biomimetic strategy to assemble an artificial extracellular matrix (AEM) directly on the surface of Pseudomonas fluorescens, conferring exceptional abiotic resilience. Inspired by amyloid-protein architecture in natural biofilms, we engineered an interfacial coating via the conformational transition of lysozyme into a β-sheet-rich, adhesive scaffold, which electrostatically co-assembles with alginate polysaccharides at the cell envelope. This conformal nanocoating provides dual-mode protection: it acts as a viscoelastic hydration buffer that prevents membrane rupture, and it elicits a transcriptional response that upregulates genes associated with respiration, osmoprotection, and proteostasis. Optimized at a 1:1 protein-to-polysaccharide ratio, the AEM enhances bacterial survival after desiccation by 30.9-fold. Furthermore, it enables robust seed adhesion and storage stability, translating into effective biocontrol against Fusarium pathogens in a model agricultural system. This work establishes a versatile strategy for programming cellular interfaces, bridging materials design and microbial functionality to engineer resilient living systems for real-world deployment.
Wang et al. (Wed,) studied this question.