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Cotyledons facilitate the adaptation of early-maturing soybean varieties to high-latitude long-day environments.

ABSTRACT: Soybean (Glycine max), a typical short-day plant (SDP) domesticated in temperate regions, has expanded to high latitudes where daylengths are long from soybean emergence to bloom, but rapidly decrease from seed filling to maturity. Cotyledons are well known as the major storage organs in seeds, but it is unclear whether developing cotyledons store flowering substances at filling stage in SD for upcoming seedlings, or instead respond to photoperiod for floral induction after emergence of matured seeds in long-day (LD). Here, we report that cotyledons accelerate flowering of early-maturing varieties not resulting from stored floral stimuli but by perceiving photoperiod after emergence. We found that light signal is indispensable to activate cotyledons for floral induction, and flowering promoting gene GmFT2a is required for cotyledon-dependent floral induction via upregulation of floral identity gene GmAP1. Interestingly, cotyledons are competent to support the entire life cycle of a cotyledon-only plant to produce seeds, underlying a new photoperiod study system in soybean and other dicots. Taken together, these results demonstrate a substantial role for cotyledons in flowering process, whereby we propose a 'cotyledon-based self-reliance' model highlighting floral induction from emergence as a key ecological adaptation for rapid flowering of SDPs grown in LD environments at high latitudes.

SUBMITTER: Xu X

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8362131 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Cotyledons facilitate the adaptation of early-maturing soybean varieties to high-latitude long-day environments.

Xu Xin X Zhang Lixin L Cao Xiaoning X Liu Lifeng L Jiang Bingjun B Zhang Chunlei C Jia Hongchang H Lyu Xiangguang X Su Yumei Y Cai Yupeng Y Liu Luping L Zhang Shengrui S Chen Fulu F Wu Cunxiang C Liu Bin B Hou Wensheng W Sun Shi S Lai Jinsheng J Han Tianfu T

Plant, cell & environment 20210606 8

Soybean (Glycine max), a typical short-day plant (SDP) domesticated in temperate regions, has expanded to high latitudes where daylengths are long from soybean emergence to bloom, but rapidly decrease from seed filling to maturity. Cotyledons are well known as the major storage organs in seeds, but it is unclear whether developing cotyledons store flowering substances at filling stage in SD for upcoming seedlings, or instead respond to photoperiod for floral induction after emergence of matured ...[more]

PMID: 34050544

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Project description:BackgroundImmediately following germination, the developing soybean seedling relies on the nutrient reserves stored in the cotyledons to sustain heterotrophic growth. During the seed filling period, developing seeds rely on the transport of nutrients from the trifoliate leaves. In soybean, both cotyledons and leaves develop the capacity for photosynthesis, and subsequently senesce and abscise once their function has ended. Before this occurs, the nutrients they contain are mobilized and transported to other parts of the plant. These processes are carefully orchestrated by genetic regulation throughout the development of the leaf or cotyledon.ResultsTo identify genes involved in the processes of leaf or cotyledon development and senescence in soybean, we used RNA-seq to profile multiple stages of cotyledon and leaf tissues. Differentially expressed genes between stages of leaf or cotyledon development were determined, major patterns of gene expression were defined, and shared genes were identified. Over 38,000 transcripts were expressed during the course of leaf and cotyledon development. Of those transcripts, 5,000 were expressed in a tissue specific pattern. Of the genes that were differentially expressed between both later stage tissues, 90 % had the same direction of change, suggesting that the mechanisms of senescence are conserved between tissues. Analysis of the enrichment of biological functions within genes sharing common expression profiles highlights the main processes occurring within these defined temporal windows of leaf and cotyledon development. Over 1,000 genes were identified with predicted regulatory functions that may have a role in control of leaf or cotyledon senescence.ConclusionsThe process of leaf and cotyledon development can be divided into distinct stages characterized by the expression of specific gene sets. The importance of the WRKY, NAC, and GRAS family transcription factors as major regulators of plant senescence is confirmed for both soybean leaf and cotyledon tissues. These results help validate functional annotation for soybean genes and promoters.

Project description:Optimization of plant architecture by modifying stem termination and timing of flowering and maturity of soybean is a promising strategy to improve its adaptability to specific production environments. Therefore, it is important to choose a proper stem termination type and to understand morphological differences between each stem termination type under various environmental conditions. Variations in abruptness of stem termination have been generally classified into three classical genetic types, indeterminate (Dt1), determinate (dt1), and semi-determinate (Dt2). However, an additional stem termination type, termed tall determinate, and its genetic symbol, dt1-t, were introduced about 25 years ago. The tall determinate soybean lines show delayed cessation of apical stem growth and about 50% taller plant heights than the typical determinate soybeans, even though the genetic control of the tall determinate phenotype was found to be allelic to dt1. Despite the potential agronomic merits of the alternative stem termination type, knowledge about the tall determinate soybean remains limited. We clarified the molecular basis of the tall determinate stem termination type and examined potential agronomic merits of the alternative stem type under three different production environments in the US. Sequence analysis of the classical tall determinate soybean lines revealed that the dt1-t allele responsible for tall determinate stem architecture is caused by two of the identified independent missense alleles of dt1, dt1-t1 (R130K), and dt1-t2 (R62S). Also, from the comparison among soybean accessions belonging to each of the genotype categories for stem termination types, soybean accessions with tall determinate alleles were found to have a high discrepancy rate in phenotyping. Newly developed tall determinate late-maturing soybean germplasm lines had taller plant heights and a greater number of nodes with a similar stem diameter and similar pod density at the apical stem compared to typical determinate soybeans having dt1 (R166W) alleles in Southern environments in the US. The phenotype of increased pod-bearing nodes with lodging resistance has the potential to improve yield, especially grown in high yield environments. This study suggests an alternative strategy to remodel the shape of soybean plants, which can possibly lead to yield improvement through the modification of soybean plant architecture.

Dataset Information

Cotyledons facilitate the adaptation of early-maturing soybean varieties to high-latitude long-day environments.

Publications

Cotyledons facilitate the adaptation of early-maturing soybean varieties to high-latitude long-day environments.

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