Comparison of response mechanism of ordinary Cordyceps militaris and domesticated Cordyceps militaris to Pb2+ stress

In this study, we compared the response mechanism of ordinary Cordyceps militaris and domesticated one to Pb2+ stress by exploring the reduced glutathione content (GSH), biomass, expression level of enzymes related to polysaccharide and enzyme activity of GSH-PX, SOD and CAT. Results showed that the GSH was mainly concentrated in intracellular, and the content of protein GSH (PB-SH) was higher than non-protein GSH (NP-SH), which revealed that the Cordyceps militaris resisted heavy metal mainly relying on PB-SH. Besides, the biomass level of domesticated group was always higher than that in the ordinary group. In addition, the domesticated group had a higher enzyme activity of PGM, PGI and UGP. And the genes of ugp was the most critical enzyme under the stress of heavy metal. Further more, the domesticated Cordyceps militaris could alleviate the oxidative stress caused by Pb2+, and exercise the function of relieving Pb2+ poisoning. Owing to its preferable response mechanism, domesticated Cordyceps militaris revealed good prospect in removing heavy metals from organisms.

Automated summary

Domesticated Cordyceps militaris exhibited a better response mechanism to Pb2+ stress with higher GSH content, biomass level, and critical enzyme activity. It showed a better ability in alleviating oxidative stress and poisoning caused by Pb2+.