Sun Qian, Wang Juncheng, Zhang Hong, Yao Lirong, Si Erjing, Li Baochun, Meng Yaxiong, Wang Chan, Yang Ke, Shang Xunwu, Xie Xinyang, Wang Huajun, Ma Xiaole
State Key Lab of Aridland Crop Science/Gansu Key Lab of Crop Improvement and Germplasm Enhancement, Lanzhou, China.
Department of Crop Genetics and Breeding, College of Agronomy, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou, China.
BMC Plant Biol. 2025 Sep 12;25(1):1201. doi: 10.1186/s12870-025-07214-1.
Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) can stimulate root development in plants and enhance their ability to adapt to stress conditions. This study investigated the effects of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) inoculation on the growth, hormone dynamics, and phosphorus (P) metabolism of two wheat cultivars with differing phosphorus utilization efficiencies under both normal and low phosphorus concentration conditions. The research focused on the symbiotic interaction between AMF and these wheat varieties to elucidate their responses to varying phosphorus availability.
The experiment showed that phosphorus inefficient wheat SW14 inoculated with AMF for 30 days under low phosphorus stress showed significant enhancement in plant height, biomass, leaf width, stem thickness, root surface area, and vegetative phosphorus content, while total root length and primary root length were reduced, This change in root length was attributed to the fact that the root system undergoes elongation and growth to adapt to the adversity under low phosphorus stress in crops, and inoculation with AMF effectively alleviated the extent of this low phosphorus stress. while IAA, SL, cellulose and lignin hormone levels and APC enzyme activities were significantly elevated, and stem structure was significantly optimized; whereas, the phosphorus-efficient variety, SW2, did not show significant improvement due to its own unique tolerance to low phosphorus stress (Table 2). Transcriptomic profiling identified 2,500 differentially expressed genes (DEGs: 983↑/1,517↓), enriched in ABC transporters (ko02010), Plant hormone signal transduction (ko04075), and MAPK signaling pathway - plant (ko04016), Cutin, suberin and wax biosynthesis(ko00073). WGCNA further resolved that AMF responded to low phosphorus stress by up-regulating the expression of cellulose, lignin, APC synthesis, and IAA/SL-related genes in SW14, with the most relevant phenotypes shown to correlate to primary root length, total root length, root dry weight and stem diameter.
AMF inoculation significantly enhanced growth and dry matter accumulation in the low-phosphorus-use-efficiency wheat variety SW14 under phosphorus-deficient stress. This treatment concurrently stimulated IAA, SL, and APC activities, resulting in increased phosphorus uptake/accumulation, notable accumulation of cellulose and lignin, and consequently significantly improved stem strength. Although AMF inoculation improved growth in the high-phosphorus-use-efficiency wheat variety SW2, these enhancements failed to reach statistical significance.
丛枝菌根真菌（AMF）可刺激植物根系发育，增强其适应胁迫条件的能力。本研究调查了在正常磷浓度和低磷浓度条件下，接种丛枝菌根真菌（AMF）对两个磷利用效率不同的小麦品种的生长、激素动态及磷（P）代谢的影响。该研究聚焦于AMF与这些小麦品种之间的共生相互作用，以阐明它们对不同磷有效性的响应。
实验表明，在低磷胁迫下接种AMF 30天的磷低效小麦SW14，其株高、生物量、叶宽、茎粗、根表面积和营养体磷含量显著增加，而总根长和初生根长减少，根长的这种变化归因于作物在低磷胁迫下根系会伸长生长以适应逆境，接种AMF有效缓解了这种低磷胁迫的程度。同时，IAA、SL、纤维素和木质素激素水平及APC酶活性显著升高，茎结构显著优化；而磷高效品种SW2由于自身对低磷胁迫具有独特的耐受性，未表现出显著改善（表2）。转录组分析鉴定出2500个差异表达基因（DEGs：983个上调/1517个下调），富集于ABC转运蛋白（ko02010）、植物激素信号转导（ko04075）、MAPK信号通路-植物（ko040,16）、角质、木栓质和蜡质生物合成（ko00073）。加权基因共表达网络分析（WGCNA）进一步解析出，AMF通过上调SW14中纤维素、木质素、APC合成及IAA/SL相关基因的表达来响应低磷胁迫，与最相关表型相关的指标为初生根长、总根长、根干重和茎直径。
接种AMF显著增强了低磷利用效率小麦品种SW14在缺磷胁迫下的生长和干物质积累。该处理同时刺激了IAA、SL和APC的活性，导致磷吸收/积累增加，纤维素和木质素显著积累，从而显著提高了茎强度。虽然接种AMF改善了高磷利用效率小麦品种SW2的生长，但这些增强效果未达到统计学显著水平。
