Transcriptome and metabolite profiling reveals the effects of Funneliformis mosseae on the roots of continuously cropped soybeans

Abstract

Background Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi are the most widely distributed mycorrhizal fungi, which can form mycorrhizal symbionts with plant roots and enhance plant stress resistance by regulating host metabolic activities. In this paper, the RNA sequencing and ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) technologies were used to study the transcriptome and metabolite profiles of the roots of continuously cropped soybeans that were infected with F. mosseae and F. oxysporum. The objective was to explore the effects of F. mosseae treatment on soybean root rot infected with F. oxysporum. Results According to the transcriptome profiles, 24285 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified, and the expression of genes encoding phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL), trans-cinnamate monooxygenase (CYP73A), cinnamyl-CoA reductase (CCR), chalcone isomerase (CHI) and coffee-coenzyme o-methyltransferase were upregulated after being infected with F. oxysporum; these changes were key to the induction of the soybean’s defence response. The metabolite results showed that daidzein and 7,4-dihydroxy, 6-methoxy isoflavone (glycine), which are involved in the isoflavone metabolic pathway, were upregulated after the roots were inoculated with F. mosseae. In addition, a substantial alteration in the abundance of amino acids, phenolic and terpene metabolites all led to the synthesis of defence compounds. An integrated analysis of the metabolic and transcriptomic data revealed that substantial alterations in the abundance of most of the intermediate metabolites and enzymes changed substantially under pathogen infection. These changes included the isoflavonoid biosynthesis pathway, which suggests that isoflavonoid biosynthesis plays an important role in the soybean root response. Conclusion The results showed that F. mosseae could alleviate the root rot caused by continuous cropping. The increased activity of some disease-resistant genes and disease-resistant metabolites may partly account for the ability of the plants to resist diseases. This study provides new insights into the molecular mechanism by which AMF alleviates soybean root rot, which is important in agriculture.

Study on the molecular mechanism of Laccaria bicolor helping Populus trichocarpa to resist the infection of Botryosphaeria dothidea

“…Therefore, inducing cell wall development may discourage pathogen invasion of host tissues. Other studies have shown that the inoculation of mycorrhizal fungi can also help plants alleviate the effects of biotic and abiotic stresses by regulating the development of cell wall (Lu et al, 2020;Zhang et al, 2021). In our research, we also found that the inoculation of L. bicolor could induce some cell wall pathway gene families such as expansin family, pectinesterase family and the germin-like protein subfamily.…”

“…Mycorrhizal fungi can establish a symbiotic relationship with more than 80% of terrestrial plants, helping them absorb water and nutrients, and alleviate the negative effects of biotic or abiotic stress (Rosendahl, 2008;Santander et al, 2017). At present, it has been found that inoculation of mycorrhizal fungi can help alleviate disease on many plants such as citrus, strawberry and soybean (Lu et al, 2020). For root diseases, a large number of systematic studies have shown that mycorrhizal fungi can compete with pathogens for survival, build a hyphal network to prevent pathogens from invading roots and secrete antibacterial substances to improve the disease resistance of host plants (Abdel-Fattah & Shabana, 2002;Eke et al, 2019;Whipps, 2004;Zhang et al, 2017).…”

Transcriptome analysis provides novel insights into the soil amendments induced response in continuously cropped Codonopsis tangshen

“…Chen et al (2020) reported the transcriptome change of continuously cropped strawberry in response to a soil amendment and indicated that strawberry plants reallocated defense resources to development when soil amendments alleviated the stress caused by continuous cropping. Lu et al (2020) characterized the transcriptional response of continuously cropped soybeans to Funneliformis mosseae and found that the increased activity of some disease-resistant genes may partly account for the ability of the plants to resist diseases. Our previous study indicated that the soil amendments including OM and SCPM could effectively relieve the continuous cropping obstacles to C. tangshen cultivation (Zhou et al, 2021), but the recovery mechanisms underlying this phenomenon is still remain unclear.…”