Linking soil health to human health: Arbuscular mycorrhizae play a key role in plant uptake of the antioxidant ergothioneine from soils
Societal Impact Statement Evidence has emerged that the antioxidant ergothioneine may be important in preventing many inflammatory diseases in humans. However, ergothioneine is not produced by humans or plants and is only made by fungi and some bacteria in soils. As such, humans get ergothioneine fr...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2023-05-01
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| Series: | Plants, People, Planet |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp3.10365 |
| _version_ | 1797838972483796992 |
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| author | Joseph E. Carrara Steven J. Lehotay Alan R. Lightfield Dongxiao Sun John P. Richie Jr Andrew H. Smith Wade P. Heller |
| author_facet | Joseph E. Carrara Steven J. Lehotay Alan R. Lightfield Dongxiao Sun John P. Richie Jr Andrew H. Smith Wade P. Heller |
| author_sort | Joseph E. Carrara |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Societal Impact Statement Evidence has emerged that the antioxidant ergothioneine may be important in preventing many inflammatory diseases in humans. However, ergothioneine is not produced by humans or plants and is only made by fungi and some bacteria in soils. As such, humans get ergothioneine from eating fungi (mushrooms) or plants that take it up from the soil. In this study, we found that growing plants with beneficial fungi called arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi increased the amount of ergothioneine in plant tissues. This suggests that promoting agricultural practices that maintain healthy populations of beneficial soil fungi may improve the nutritional quality of crops. Summary The amino acid ergothioneine (ERGO) has recently gained attention as an antioxidant that benefits human health. ERGO is produced by fungi and mycobacteria in soils and is acquired only from diet. The mechanism by which ERGO is transferred from soil to plant is unknown. Recent work has shown that tillage reduces the amount of ERGO in crops. As tillage also reduces arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) populations, we examined the relationship between AMF and plant ERGO uptake. We grew asparagus, black beans, wheat, and oats with a variety of single and mixed species AMF inocula and compared ERGO levels of these plants to plants that were uninoculated. Mycorrhizal inoculation enhanced ERGO content across all plants. There was a positive correlation between AMF colonization level and plant ERGO content. AMF appear to be important mediators of plant ERGO uptake. Future research is needed to identify the mechanism that leads to higher ERGO in plants colonized by AMF in order to promote farming practices that enhance AMF populations and increase crop ERGO concentration in field settings. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-09T15:50:39Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-465b2cb91c6d4b0881ebf50ed64c2ce7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2572-2611 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-09T15:50:39Z |
| publishDate | 2023-05-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Plants, People, Planet |
| spelling | doaj.art-465b2cb91c6d4b0881ebf50ed64c2ce72023-04-26T08:17:26ZengWileyPlants, People, Planet2572-26112023-05-015344945810.1002/ppp3.10365Linking soil health to human health: Arbuscular mycorrhizae play a key role in plant uptake of the antioxidant ergothioneine from soilsJoseph E. Carrara0Steven J. Lehotay1Alan R. Lightfield2Dongxiao Sun3John P. Richie Jr4Andrew H. Smith5Wade P. Heller6USDA Agricultural Research Service, Eastern Regional Research Center Wyndmoor Pennsylvania USAUSDA Agricultural Research Service, Eastern Regional Research Center Wyndmoor Pennsylvania USAUSDA Agricultural Research Service, Eastern Regional Research Center Wyndmoor Pennsylvania USADepartment of Pharmacology and Penn State Mass Spectrometry Core Facility Penn State University Hershey Pennsylvania USADepartment of Public Health Sciences Penn State University Hershey Pennsylvania USARodale Institute 611 Siegfriedale Road Kutztown Pennsylvania USAUSDA Agricultural Research Service, Eastern Regional Research Center Wyndmoor Pennsylvania USASocietal Impact Statement Evidence has emerged that the antioxidant ergothioneine may be important in preventing many inflammatory diseases in humans. However, ergothioneine is not produced by humans or plants and is only made by fungi and some bacteria in soils. As such, humans get ergothioneine from eating fungi (mushrooms) or plants that take it up from the soil. In this study, we found that growing plants with beneficial fungi called arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi increased the amount of ergothioneine in plant tissues. This suggests that promoting agricultural practices that maintain healthy populations of beneficial soil fungi may improve the nutritional quality of crops. Summary The amino acid ergothioneine (ERGO) has recently gained attention as an antioxidant that benefits human health. ERGO is produced by fungi and mycobacteria in soils and is acquired only from diet. The mechanism by which ERGO is transferred from soil to plant is unknown. Recent work has shown that tillage reduces the amount of ERGO in crops. As tillage also reduces arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) populations, we examined the relationship between AMF and plant ERGO uptake. We grew asparagus, black beans, wheat, and oats with a variety of single and mixed species AMF inocula and compared ERGO levels of these plants to plants that were uninoculated. Mycorrhizal inoculation enhanced ERGO content across all plants. There was a positive correlation between AMF colonization level and plant ERGO content. AMF appear to be important mediators of plant ERGO uptake. Future research is needed to identify the mechanism that leads to higher ERGO in plants colonized by AMF in order to promote farming practices that enhance AMF populations and increase crop ERGO concentration in field settings.https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp3.10365antioxidantsarbuscular mycorrhizaeergothioneineliquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometrynutritionplant health |
| spellingShingle | Joseph E. Carrara Steven J. Lehotay Alan R. Lightfield Dongxiao Sun John P. Richie Jr Andrew H. Smith Wade P. Heller Linking soil health to human health: Arbuscular mycorrhizae play a key role in plant uptake of the antioxidant ergothioneine from soils Plants, People, Planet antioxidants arbuscular mycorrhizae ergothioneine liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry nutrition plant health |
| title | Linking soil health to human health: Arbuscular mycorrhizae play a key role in plant uptake of the antioxidant ergothioneine from soils |
| title_full | Linking soil health to human health: Arbuscular mycorrhizae play a key role in plant uptake of the antioxidant ergothioneine from soils |
| title_fullStr | Linking soil health to human health: Arbuscular mycorrhizae play a key role in plant uptake of the antioxidant ergothioneine from soils |
| title_full_unstemmed | Linking soil health to human health: Arbuscular mycorrhizae play a key role in plant uptake of the antioxidant ergothioneine from soils |
| title_short | Linking soil health to human health: Arbuscular mycorrhizae play a key role in plant uptake of the antioxidant ergothioneine from soils |
| title_sort | linking soil health to human health arbuscular mycorrhizae play a key role in plant uptake of the antioxidant ergothioneine from soils |
| topic | antioxidants arbuscular mycorrhizae ergothioneine liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry nutrition plant health |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp3.10365 |
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