Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi improve selenium uptake by modulating root transcriptome of rice (Oryza sativa L.)

Abstract

Although selenium (Se) is an essential trace element in humans, the intake of Se from food is still generally inadequate throughout the world. Inoculation with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) improves the uptake of Se in rice (Oryza sativa L.). However, the mechanism by which AMF improves the uptake of Se in rice at the transcriptome level is unknown. Only a few studies have evaluated the effects of uptake of other elements in rice under the combined effects of Se and AMF. In this study, Se combined with the AMF Funneliformis mosseae (Fm) increased the biomass and Se concentration of rice plants, altered the pattern of ionomics of the rice roots and shoots, and reduced the antagonistic uptake of Se with nickel, molybdenum, phosphorus, and copper compared with the treatment of Se alone, indicating that Fm can enhance the effect of fertilizers rich in Se. Furthermore, a weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) showed that the hub genes in modules significantly associated with the genes that contained Se and were related to protein phosphorylation, protein serine/threonine kinase activity, membrane translocation, and metal ion binding, suggesting that the uptake of Se by the rice roots may be associated with these genes when Fm and Se act in concert. This study provides a reference for the further exploration of genes related to Se uptake in rice under Fm treatment.

Combined application of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and selenium fertilizer increased wheat biomass under cadmium stress and shapes rhizosphere soil microbial communities

“…A previous research have indicated that inoculation with AMF can transfer beneficial elements to the host root system through symbiotic hyphae and improve the utilization of beneficial elements [40]. Inoculation with AMF can improve Se uptake by regulating the root transcriptome [41]. Furthermore, our study discovered that in the Se + AMF treatment, the shoot has the highest total Se concentration and the lowest available Cd concentration (Figs.…”