AUTHOR=Pu Chunjuan , Ge Yang , Yang Guang , Zheng Han , Guan Wei , Chao Zhi , Shen Ye , Liu Sha , Chen Meilan , Huang Luqi 

TITLE=Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi enhance disease resistance of Salvia miltiorrhiza to Fusarium wilt

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=13

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2022.975558

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2022.975558

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=<p><italic>Salvia miltiorrhiza</italic> Bunge (Danshen in Chinese) is vulnerable to Fusarium wilt, which severely affects the quality of the crude drug. Mycorrhizal colonization enhances resistance to fungal pathogens in many plant species. In this study, pre-inoculation of <italic>S. miltiorrhiza</italic> with the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) <italic>Glomus versiforme</italic> significantly alleviated Fusarium wilt caused by <italic>Fusarium oxysporum</italic>. Mycorrhizal colonization protected <italic>S. miltiorrhiza</italic> from pathogen infection, thereby preventing a loss of biomass and photosynthesis. There were greater defense responses induced by pathogen infection in AMF pre-inoculated plants than those in non-treated plants. AMF pre-inoculation resulted in systemic responses upon pathogen inoculation, including significant increases in the protein content and activities of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL), chitinase, and β-1,3-glucanase in <italic>S. miltiorrhiza</italic> roots. In addition, mycorrhizal pre-inoculation caused upregulation of defense-related genes, and jasmonic acid (JA) and salicylic acid (SA) signaling pathway genes after pathogen infection. The above findings indicate that mycorrhizal colonization enhances <italic>S. miltiorrhiza</italic> resistance against <italic>F. oxysporum</italic> infection by enhancing photosynthesis, root structure, and inducing the expression of defense enzymes and defense-related genes on the other hand.</p>