Analysis of research hot spots on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi-plant combined remediation of heavy metal pollution: based on VOSviewer, CiteSpace and Gephi software.

Heavy metal contamination poses global threats to soil health, driving urgent demand for sustainable remediation solutions. This study presents the first bibliometric analysis of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF)-assisted phytoremediation research. It is based on a corpus of 638 publications (2004-2024) from 74 countries, analyzed using VOSviewer, CiteSpace, and Gephi. China was the primary contributor, with 238 publications, while the Chinese Academy of Sciences served as the central hub for institutional collaboration. The evolution of this field comprised three phases: an initial low-output phase, a period of fluctuating development, and a post-2019 phase of rapid growth that peaked in 2022 with 67 annual publications. Keyword burst analysis reveals the temporal evolution of research focuses. Funneliformis mosseae has been the most persistent research hot spot, while since 2019, molecular mechanisms-particularly antioxidant defense systems and microbial synergies-have emerged as the dominant research frontier. Through a publication analysis, it was found that the core journals of the study included the International Journal of Phytoremediation, Environmental Pollution, Ecotoxicology, and Environmental Safety.