Cadmium accumulation capacity and resistance strategies of a cadmium-hypertolerant fern - Microsorum fortunei.

Microsorum fortunei (M. fortunei), a close relative to the cadmium (Cd) hyperaccumulator Microsorum pteropus, is an epiphytic Polypodiaceae fern with strong antioxidant activity. The Cd-accumulation capacities and Cd-resistance mechanisms of M. fortunei were analyzed in this study by measuring metal contents (Cd, Fe, Mg, Ca, Zn, Mn, K and Na) and chlorophyll fluorescence parameters (F/F, qN, qP, Y(II), Y(NPQ) and Y(NO)) and by performing an RNA-sequencing analysis. M. fortunei could accumulate up to 2249.10 μg/g DW Cd in roots under a 15-day 1000 μmol/L Cd treatment, with little Cd translocated into the leaves (maximum 138.26 μg/g DW). The M. fortunei leaves could maintain their normal physiological functions with no phytosynthesis damage and few changes in metal contents or differentially expressed genes. M. fortunei roots showed a decrease in Zn concentration, with potential Cd-tolerance mechanisms such as heavy metal transporters, vesicle trafficking and fusion proteins, antioxidant systems, and primary metabolites like plant hormones, revealed by differentially expressed functional genes. In conclusion, M. fortunei may serve as a potential cadmium-hypertolerant fern that sequesters and detoxifies most cadmium in the roots, with a minimum root-to-shoot Cd translocation to guarantee the physiological functions in the more vulnerable leaves.