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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Microbe and Virus Interactions with Plants
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1570200
This article is part of the Research Topic Mechanisms Behind Stress Tolerance Induced by Mycorrhizal Symbioses View all 5 articles
Transcriptome analysis unveils the functional effects of ectomycorrhizal fungal colonization on cadmium tolerance of willow saplings
Provisionally accepted
Lijiao Wang 1 Baoshan Yang 1
Hui Wang 1* Jiaxing Shi 1 Jinhao Dong 1 Xiaoxia Zhao 2 Guanghua Qin 3
Xinhua He 4 Meiyuan Wang 1- 1 University of Jinan, Jinan, China
- 2 Jinan Environmental Research Academy, Jinan, China
- 3 Shandong Academy of Forestry, Jinan, Shandong Province, China
- 4 University of California, Davis, Davis, California, United States
Ectomycorrhizal fungus (ECMF) could enhance plant tolerance to heavy metal toxicity by altering metal accumulation and protecting plants from oxidative injury. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying ECMF-mediated detoxification of cadmium (Cd) in willow sapling are not well known. This study aimed to unveil the roles of Cenococcum geophilum (CG) and Suillus luteus (SL) in regulating Cd toxicity tolerance in willow (Salix psammophila 'Huangpi1') saplings. The results showed the growth, photosynthesis, antioxidant system and transcriptome of 2-month-old willow saplings responded differently to ECMFs colonization under Cd stress. S. luteus markedly increased the aerial parts biomass, while C. geophilum significantly enhanced the root property indices of willow saplings under Cd stress. The highest number of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) was observed in the comparison between CG+Cd (CG colonization with 100 μM Cd addition) and NF+Cd (no ECMF inoculation with 100 μM Cd addition). C. geophilum colonization activated plant hormone signal transduction and carbohydrate metabolism pathways, while S. luteus enhanced the synthesis of secondary metabolites. This study provides a molecular perspective on the mechanism of interaction between ECMFs and willow saplings under Cd stress and supports the application of ECMFs for phytoremediation of Cd-contaminated soil.
Keywords: Physiochemical responses, Antioxidant Defense, Differentially expressed genes, secondary metabolites, willow sapling
Received: 03 Feb 2025; Accepted: 24 Feb 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wang, Yang, Wang, Shi, Dong, Zhao, Qin, He and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Hui Wang, University of Jinan, Jinan, China
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