Transcriptomic and Proteomic Analysis Revealed the Effect of Funneliformis mosseae in Soybean Roots Differential Expression Genes and Proteins

Glycine max is easily infected with root rot in continuous cropping systems, which can severely affect crop yield. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) can reduce the incidence of root rot and increase plant height and biomass indices. However, the molecular changes that occur during soybean symbiosis with AMF remain largely unknown. To better understand the molecular mechanism underlying soybean symbiosis with AMF, we performed transcriptomic and proteomic analyses to explore the changes in protein expression during a high-incidence period (79 days) in asymbiotic and symbiotic plants and to identify the key proteins that regulate the mechanism of soybean symbiosis with AMF. A total of 10 104 genes were identified in the CK-vs-F comparison, and 11 562 genes were significantly differentially expressed in the AF group compared with the F group. A total of 9488 proteins were identified, with 256 differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) in the CK-vs-F comparison and 651 DEPs in the F-vs-AF comparison. Key pathways and DEPs were found to be involved in processes associated with “phenylalanine metabolism”, “plant hormone signal transduction”, “plant-pathogen interaction”, and “metabolic pathways”. The expression of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL), calcium-dependent protein kinase (CPK), and other defense-related proteins was upregulated by Funneliformis mosseae, indicating that inoculation promotes the development of soybean and increases disease resistance. Our results suggest that symbiosis promotes the growth and development of soybean and increases disease resistance. This study provides new insight into the molecular basis of the mechanism by which AMF affect plant disease resistance.