Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi Regulate Lipid and Amino Acid Metabolic Pathways to Promote the Growth of Poncirus trifoliata (L.) Raf

Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi can enhance the uptake of soil nutrients and water by citrus, promoting its growth. However, the specific mechanisms underlying the action of AM fungi in promoting the growth of citrus were not fully elucidated. This study aimed to explore the role of AM fungi in the regulatory mechanisms of growth. Pot experiments combined with non-targeted metabolomics methods were used to observe the growth process and changes in metabolic products of under the conditions of inoculation. The results showed that could form an excellent symbiotic relationship with , thereby enhancing the utilization of soil nutrients and significantly promoting its growth. Compared with the control, the plant height, stem diameter, number of leaves, and aboveground and underground dry weight in the inoculation significantly increased by 2.57, 1.29, 1.57, 4.25, and 2.78 times, respectively. Moreover, the root system results confirmed that could substantially promote the growth of . Meanwhile, the metabolomics data indicated that 361 differential metabolites and 56 metabolic pathways were identified in the roots of and were inoculated with . This study revealed that the inoculated could participate in ABC transporters by upregulating their participation, glycerophospholipid metabolism, aminoacyl tRNA biosynthesis, tryptophan metabolism and metabolites from five metabolic pathways of benzoxazinoid biosynthesis [mainly enriched in lipid (39.50%) and amino acid-related metabolic pathways] to promote the growth of