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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Plant Sci.

Sec. Plant Symbiotic Interactions

Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2025.1571852

This article is part of the Research Topic Mechanisms Behind Stress Tolerance Induced by Mycorrhizal Symbioses View all 7 articles

The involvement of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in modulating polyamine metabolism and lowtemperature tolerance enhancement in white clover

Provisionally accepted
Songyuan Yao Songyuan Yao Lin Lii Lin Lii Haitang Xiong Haitang Xiong Peng Zhang Peng Zhang Tingting Ju Tingting Ju Zhiwei Chen Zhiwei Chen Lanlan Zheng Lanlan Zheng *
  • Shiyan Key Laboratory of Medicinal Plants and Evolutionary Genetics, School of Basic Medicine, Hubei University of Medicine, Shiyan 442000, PR China, Hubei University of Medicine, Shiyan, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Sustained low temperatures can prevent white clover (Trifolium repens L.) from overwintering and regreening, making it difficult to revive the plants in the spring. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are widely known for their ability to enhance host stress tolerance. It is unclear whether AMF can enhance the low-temperature tolerance of white clover, which is associated with polyamines. The purpose of this study was to examine how inoculating white clover with an arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus Funneliformis mosseae affected the biomass, leaf chlorophyll and gas exchange, levels of root polyamines (putrescine, spermidine, and spermine), activities of key polyamine-related enzymes, and the expression level of the S-adenosyl-L-methionine decarboxylase (TrSAMDC1) gene at low temperatures (4 °C for four days). The low-temperature treatment inhibited the root mycorrhizal colonization rate. Mycorrhizal inoculation significantly increased shoot, root, and total biomass, with greater increases found at optimal temperatures (22 °C/18 °C, 16 h/8 h, day/night temperature) than at low temperatures. Similarly, AMF inoculation significantly improved leaf gas exchange parameters, with larger increases observed at optimal temperatures than at low temperatures. Low temperatures caused a considerable increase in putrescine and spermidine levels, while simultaneously decreasing spermine levels. Mycorrhizal inoculation elevated putrescine, spermidine, and spermine levels regardless of temperature conditions, along with a significant rise in the (spermidine+spermine)/putrescine ratio. Mycorrhizal plants also exhibited considerably increased activities of arginine decarboxylase and polyamine oxidase, but not ornithine decarboxylase, in response to low temperatures. Mycorrhizal inoculation, together with low temperatures, elevated TrSAMDC1 expression. The observed alterations in mycorrhiza-mediated polyamines were primarily attributed to increased arginine decarboxylase activity and TrSAMDC1 expression. This study demonstrated the role of mycorrhizal fungi in modulating polyamine metabolism and enhancing plant tolerance to low-temperature stress.

    Keywords: arginine decarboxylase, chilling stress, Chlorophyll, mycorrhiza, polyamine oxidase, Putrescine

    Received: 06 Feb 2025; Accepted: 24 Mar 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Yao, Lii, Xiong, Zhang, Ju, Chen and Zheng. 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: Lanlan Zheng, Shiyan Key Laboratory of Medicinal Plants and Evolutionary Genetics, School of Basic Medicine, Hubei University of Medicine, Shiyan 442000, PR China, Hubei University of Medicine, Shiyan, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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