Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi Enhance Sulfur Assimilation and Root Growth in Continuous Soybean Cropping: Insights From Transcriptomics and Proteomics

Summary statement In sulfur‐deficient soils resulting from continuous soybean cropping, inoculation with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) significantly promotes soybean root growth and activity. This inoculation induces the expression of key sulfur‐assimilation pathway genes in soybean roots (such as Sat4 and Sat5 ) and their encoded proteins (such as SAT4 and SAT5). By enhancing the synergistic effects within the gene‐protein regulatory network, the sulfur and cysteine content in the roots is increased. Thus, AMF effectively alleviates sulfur deficiency in continuously cropped soybean soils by activating root sulfur‐assimilation pathways, thereby providing a theoretical basis for using AMF inoculants to remediate sulfur‐poor soils.