Foliar Transpiration Inhibitor Reduces Cd Accumulation in Rice Grain: The Potential Effect of the Endophytic Bacterial Community

Excess Cd in soils can be accumulated in rice, presenting a serious human health risk. The effect of foliar transpiration inhibitors (TIs) on the Cd content and the endophytic bacterial community in rice plants was unclear. We evaluated the key part of the rice plant to control the Cd translocation and the profile of the endophytic bacterium structure after spraying with foliar reagents; some possible typical endophytes were induced by the TIs to inhibit the Cd translocation in the rice plant. The rice plants in three sites with different available Cd content were sprayed with foliar TIs. We assessed the Cd, N, P, K and water-soluble saccharide (WSS) in different parts of the rice plant and the endophytic bacteria community in the stem. Foliar application of TIs reduced Cd translocation factor (TFCd) by ~20% from the root to the grain compared with that of CK. The TI can increase the adsorptive site concentration of stem nodes from 5.10 to 6.83 mmol/g. The diversity of the endophytic bacteria community was enhanced after application of TI, and the Shannon index increased from 3.29 to 3.92. The endophytic bacterial community induced by TI showed higher potentiality on the biofilm and stress-tolerant and metal-transport functions than that of CK, respectively. The relative abundances of Burkholderiaceae and Bacterium_g_Anaeromyxobacter were significantly negatively correlated (p < 0.05), with TFCd and positively correlated (p < 0.05), with water-solution saccharide content, simultaneously. The TI enhanced the endophytic diversity and amount. A high abundance of special endophytic bacteria induced by TI might decrease the TFCd.