Regulation of defense systems and endophytes underpins plant adaptation to cadmium stress
Guili Yang1, Yuhan Dong2, Muhammad Shahid3
1Key Laboratory of Plant Resources Conservation and Germplasm Innovation in Mountainous Region (Ministry of Education), Guizhou Key Lab of Agro-Bioengineering, Institute of Agro-bioengineering/College of Life Sciences, and Guizhou University, Guiyang, Guizhou Province 550025, China; State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang 550081, China.
Abstract:
Industrialization and urbanization have intensified cadmium (Cd) pollution threats to ecosystems and agricultural safety, positioning phytoremediation as a prominent research frontier. This review systematically reviews recent advances in multidimensional molecular mechanisms underlying plant responses to Cd stress and the synergistic enhancement effects of endophytes. First, we comprehensively dissect the physiological and molecular regulatory networks in plants under Cd stress, encompassing core mechanisms including absorption and transport, cell wall and vacuolar compartmentalization, dynamic antioxidant system homeostasis, and hormone signaling coupled with transcription factor regulation. Second, focusing on plant-endophyte synergy, we elucidate direct mechanisms such as Cd adsorption, nutrient provision, and phytohormone synthesis/nutrient solubilization alongside indirect mechanisms including antioxidant system activation, gene expression modulation, and rhizosphere microenvironment remodeling, demonstrating how functional microbial strain diversity amplifies plant Cd tolerance and remediation efficacy. This review emphasizes systematic interpretation of molecular regulatory mechanisms in plant-endophyte interactions, with particular focus on revealing synergistic networks involving microRNAs and transcription factors. It provides a quantitative evaluation of multi-strain remediation efficiency to holistically validate the role of microbial diversity in enhancing plant Cd tolerance and pollution mitigation. Core insights highlight plant-microbe synergy in optimizing Cd distribution, elevating detoxification efficiency, and fortifying remediation stability. Finally, this review discusses current limitations and future development. This review provides critical theoretical foundations for developing efficient, sustainable plant-microbe combined remediation technologies against Cd pollution, offering a scientific reference for supporting farmland ecological security and sustainable food production under clearly defined biosafety and field-feasibility prerequisites.
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