Causal Analysis Between Rice Growth and Cadmium Accumulation and Transfer under Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Inoculation

doi:10.1016/j.rsci.2023.10.004

Abstract

Abstract:

Cadmium (Cd) contamination in rice has been a serious threat to human health. To investigate the effects of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) on the Cd translocation in rice, a controlled pot experiment was conducted. The results indicated that AMF significantly increased rice biomass, with an increase of up to 40.0%, particularly in root biomass by up to 68.4%. Notably, the number of prominent rice individuals also increased, and their plasticity was enhanced following AMF inoculation. AMF led to an increase in the net photosynthetic rate and antioxidant enzyme activity of rice. In the AMF treatment group, the Cd concentration in the rice roots was significantly higher (19.1%‒68.0%) compared with that in the control group. Conversely, the Cd concentration in the rice seeds was lower in the AMF treatment group, indicating that AMF facilitated the sequestration of Cd in rice roots and reduced Cd accumulation in the seeds. Path coefficients varied across different treatments, suggesting that AMF inoculation reduced the direct impact of soil Cd concentration on the total Cd accumulation in seeds. The translocation of Cd was consistently associated with simultaneous growth dilution and compensatory accumulation as a result of mycorrhizal effects. Our study quantitatively analyzed this process through path analysis and clarified the causal relationship between rice growth and Cd transfer under the influence of AMF.

Key words: cadmium transfer, dilution effect, heavy metal immobilization, mycorrhizal effect, path analysis, phenotypic plasticity

Zhao Ting, Wang Li, Yang Jixian, Ma Fang. Causal Analysis Between Rice Growth and Cadmium Accumulation and Transfer under Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Inoculation[J]. Rice Science, 2024, 31(2): 226-236.

Figures/Tables 8

Fig. 1. Frequency distributions of rice plant height and root length and their normal distribution curves in different treatment groups. A and B, Plant height (A) and root length (B) in control group. C and D, Plant height (C) and root length (D) in arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus treatment group.

Table 1. Normal distribution parameters of rice plant height and root length in different treatment groups.

Parameter	Treatment	Average ± SD (cm)	Skewness	Kurtosis
Plant height	CK	69.49 ± 8.37	-0.300	-0.287
Plant height	GM	74.31 ± 10.92**	0.026	-0.053
Root length	CK	20.38 ± 4.38	0.601	0.659
Root length	GM	23.79 ± 5.77**	1.004	1.128

Fig. 2. Relative biomass of rice roots, shoots, and seeds with different cadmium (Cd) concentrations in soils. CK, Control group; GM, Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus (AFM) treatment group; ns, Not significant. Data are Mean ± SD (n = 3). Two asterisks indicate extremely significant differences between the CK and GM within one Cd level (P < 0.01, t-test). Different uppercase and lowercase letters represent significant differences in different Cd concentrations with or without AMF using a one-way analysis of variance with LSD (P < 0.05), respectively.

Fig. 3. Biomass distribution of rice roots, shoots, and seeds in soils with different cadmium (Cd) concentrations. CK, Control group; GM, Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus treatment group.Data are Mean ± SD (n = 3).

Fig. 4. Effects of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) on photosynthetic parameters of rice under different soil cadmium (Cd) concentrations. Pn, Net photosynthetic rate; Tr, Transpiration rate; Gs, Stomatal conductance; CK, Control group; GM, AFM treatment group; ns, Not significant. Data are Mean ± SD (n = 3). * and ** denote significant differences between the CK and GM at a given Cd level at P < 0.05 and P < 0.01 (t-test), respectively. Distinct uppercase and lowercase letters above the bars represent significant variations in different Cd concentrations with or without AMF using a one-way analysis of variance with LSD (P < 0.05).

Fig. 5. Activities of antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD, A), peroxidase (POD, B), and catalase (CAT, C) affected by soil cadmium (Cd) concentrations and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). CK, Control group; GM, AFM treatment group; ns, Not significant.Data are Mean ± SD (n = 3). * and ** denote significant differences between the CK and GM at a given Cd level at P < 0.05 and P < 0.01 (t-test), respectively. Distinct uppercase and lowercase letters above the bars represent significant variations in different Cd concentrations with or without AMF using a one-way analysis of variance with LSD (P < 0.05).

Fig. 6. Effects of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi on cadmium (Cd) concentration and total accumulation Cd in rice organs (roots, shoots and seeds). CK, Control group; GM, Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus treatment group. Data are Mean ± SD (n = 3).

Fig. 7. Path analysis diagrams of soil cadmium (Cd) concentration and each variable. A, Control group. B, Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus treatment group.

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