Background: The Polygonatum cyrtonema Hua rhizomes (also known as Rhizoma Polygonati, RP) are consumed for their health benefits. The main source of the RP is wild P. cyrtonema populations in the Hunan province of China. However, the soil Cadmium (Cd) content in Huanan is increasing, thus increasing the risks of Cd accumulation in RP which may end up in the human food chain. To understand the mechanism of Cd accumulation and resistance in P. cyrtonema, we subjected P. cyrtonema plants to four levels of Cd stress [(D2) 1, (D3) 2, (D4) 4, and (D5...