The value of Agarwood increases with time due to the gradual release of its major components, but the mechanism behind this remains unclear. Herein we reveal that the potential driving force of this process is the degradation of cellulose in Agarwood by its saprophytic Bacillus subtilis. We selected 10-year-old Agarwood from different places and then isolated the saprophytic bacteria. We confirmed these bacteria from different sources are all Bacillus and confirmed they can degrade cellulose, and the highest cellulase activity reached 0.22 U/mL. By co-cultivation of the bacterium and Agarwood powder, we found that three of the strains could release the effective components of Agarwood, while they had little effect in increasing the same components in living Aquilaria sinensis. Finally, we demonstrated that these saprophytic Bacillus subtilis have similar effects on Zanthoxylum bungeanum Maxim and Dalbergiaod orifera T. Chen, but not on Illicium verum Hook. f, Cinnamomum cassia Presl and Phellodendron chinense Schneid. In conclusion, our experiment revealed that the saprophytic Bacillus release the effective components of Agarwood by degrading cellulose, and we provide a promising way to accelerate this process by using this bacterial agent.

Berberine (BBR), a Chinese herbal medicine used in intestinal infection, has been applied as a botanical pesticide in the prevention of fungal disease in recent years. However, its degradation in the environment remains poorly understood. Here, we investigated BBR’s degradation in soil water from different sources accompanied by its effect on bacterial diversity. Our results indicated that BBR was only degraded in soil water, while it was stable in tap water, river water and aquaculture water. Bacterial amplicon results of these samples suggested that the degradation of BBR was closely related to the enrichment of Methylotenera. To reveal this special relationship, we used bioinformatics tools to make alignments between the whole genome of Methylotenera and the pathway of BBR’s degradation. An ortholog of Tetrahydroisoquinoline N-methyltransferase from plant was discovered only in Methylotenera that catalyzed a crucial step in BBR’s degradation pathway. In summary, our work indicated that Methylotenera was an essential bacterial genus in the degradation of BBR in the environment because of its Tetrahydroisoquinoline N-methyltransferase. This study provided new insights into BBR’s degradation in the environment, laying foundations for its application as a botanical pesticide.