Soybean Auxin Transporter PIN3 Regulates Nitrate Acquisition to Improve Nitrogen Use and Seed Traits.

ABSTRACT: Enhancing nitrogen-use efficiency is essential for boosting crop yields and advancing sustainable agriculture, particularly in the absence of synthetic fertilizers. Despite the inherent nitrogen-fixation capacity of the staple legume crop soybean (Glycine max) by symbiotic rhizobia, improving nitrogen use has been challenging. Here, a role for the auxin-efflux transporters PIN3a and PIN3b in soybean nitrate acquisition is uncovered. PIN3a/b localizes to the plasma membrane, and high environmental nitrate induces PIN3a degradation and its accumulation at cell junctions. Disrupting PIN3 homologs results in auxin over-accumulation, impairs pavement-cell polarity, and enhances signaling via the transcription factors ARF and STF3/4. These transcription factors separately bind to and activate th

SUBMITTER: Xu H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12948193 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature