Transcriptome analysis provides insights into the mechanism of salt tolerance in rice colonized by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi

Although previous studies have addressed the possible benefits of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis for rice plants under salinity, the underlying molecular mechanisms are still unclear. Here, we showed that rice colonized with AM fungi had better growth performance and higher K+/Na+ ratio under salt stress. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) responding to AM symbiosis especially under salt stress were obtained from RNA sequencing. AM-regulated DEGs in cell wall modification and peroxidases categories were mainly upregulated in shoots, suggesting AM symbiosis might assist in relaxing the cell wall and scavenging reactive oxygen species (ROS). AM symbiosis indeed improved ROS scavenging capacity in rice shoots under salt stress. In addition, genes involved in Calvin cycle and terpenoid synthesis were enhanced by AM symbiosis in shoots and roots under salt stress, respectively. AM-upregulated cation transporters and aquaporin in both shoots and roots were highlighted. Strikingly, “protein tyrosine kinase activity” subcategory was the most significantly over-represented GO term among all AM-upregulated and downregulated DEGs in both shoots and roots, highlighting the importance of kinase on AM-enhanced salinity tolerance. Overall, our results from the transcriptomic analyses indicate that AM symbiosis uses a multipronged approach to help plants achieve salt stress tolerance. Comparative gene expression profiling analysis of RNA-seq data for rice (Oriza. sativa japonica) plants colonized without (mock) or with AM fungi Rhizophagus irregularis and grown without or with salt stress