The Dark Septate Endophyte S16 Enhances Drought Tolerance in Sweet Cherry by Coordinating Metabolic Reprogramming and the Transcription Factor PaHB12

Clicks: 28
ID: 328506
2026
Free PDF
Article Quality & Performance Metrics
Overall Quality
Not rated
Combines reader engagement with the AI quality analysis. This article has not been analysed, so there is no overall score — reader engagement is measured and shown alongside.
AI Quality Assessment
Not analyzed
Readership in this journal
Emerging

Ranked #52 of 112 articles by views in Tree physiology

Most read Least read

Bar heights use a square-root scale.

Mint this article as an NFT
Not yet minted

Create a permanent, verifiable on-chain record of this article on the Scimatic Network. The NFT is held in your Journament account, and you can withdraw it to your own wallet at any time.

5 SUSD one-off · no wallet required
Sign in to mint
Abstract
Drought severely limits growth and productivity of sweet cherry, a fruit crop highly sensitive to water deficit. Beneficial root-associated fungi, particularly dark septate endophytes (DSEs), have emerged as potential modulators of stress tolerance, yet their underlying mechanisms in perennial fruit trees remain poorly understood. In this study, we investigated the effects of the DSE fungus Helotiales sp. S16 on drought responses of sweet cherry rootstock Gisela 5 seedlings. Fungal symbiosis was established by homogenizing fungal suspension with sterile growth substrate, and drought stress treatment was implemented four weeks after inoculation. Under drought conditions, inoculated seedlings accumulated markedly higher soluble sugar contents, which coincided with up-regulated expression of carbohydrate-metabolism-related genes. Lipidomic and transcriptomic data demonstrated that fungal inoculation activated fatty-acid biosynthetic pathways and reshaped overall fatty-acid profiles. Hormone profiling showed elevated abscisic acid (ABA), jasmonic acid (JA), and salicylic acid (SA) levels, accompanied by suppression of auxin (IAA), and cytokinins (6-BA), indicating a reprogramming of hormonal crosstalk. Co-expression network analysis further identified the transcription factor PaHB12 as a regulatory hub in the S16-mediated drought response. These findings demonstrate that DSE fungus S16 enhances drought tolerance through integrated reprogramming of carbon allocation, membrane lipid composition, and hormone crosstalk, providing a mechanistic basis for its potential application in sustainable orchard management.
Reference Key
openalex_W7212247852 Use this key to autocite in the manuscript while using SciMatic Manuscript Manager or Thesis Manager
Authors Wenfei Li, Dehui Qu, Qianxi Pang, Jiaqi Zhou, Haoyuan Wang, Songlin Li, Minghui Lv, Lina Yang, Wei Tian, Fanlin Wu, Hongyan Su
Are you one of these authors? Claim your profile
Journal Tree physiology
Year 2026
DOI
10.1093/treephys/tpag131
URL
https://doi.org/10.1093/treephys/tpag131
Keywords Keywords not found

Citations

No citations found. To add a citation, contact the admin at info@scimatic.org

Comments

No comments yet. Be the first to comment on this article.