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

[Display omitted] • Cordyceps militaris resisted Pb stress mainly relying on protein glutathione (PB-SH). • The genes of ugp was the key enzyme under the stress of heavy metal. • The domesticated Cordyceps militaris could alleviate oxidative stress caused by Pb2+. 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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]