biostudies-literatureUnknown12Sun TSalt stress caused by soil salinization, is one of the main factors that reduce soybean yield and quality. A large number of genes have been found to be involved in the regulation of salt tolerance. In this study, we characterized a soybean sodium/hydrogen exchanger gene <i>GmNHX5</i> and revealed its functional mechanism involved in the salt tolerance process in soybean. <i>GmNHX5</i> responded to salt stress at the transcription level in the salt stress-tolerant soybean plants, but not significantly changed in the salt-sensitive ones. GmNHX5 was located in the Golgi apparatus, and distributed in new leaves and vascular, and was induced by salt treatment. Overexpression of <i>GmNHX5</i> improved the salt tolerance of hairy roots induced by soybean cotyledons, while the opposite was observed when <i>GmNHX5</i> was knockout by CRISPR/Cas9. Soybean seedlings overexpressing <i>GmNHX5</i> also showed an increased expression of <i>GmSOS1</i>, <i>GmSKOR</i>, and <i>GmHKT1</i>, higher K⁺/Na⁺ ratio, and higher viability when exposed to salt stress. Our findings provide an effective candidate gene for the cultivation of salt-tolerant germplasm resources and new clues for further understanding of the salt-tolerance mechanism in plants.Frontiers in plant science638340https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC7985447biostudies-literatureA Golgi-Localized Sodium/Hydrogen Exchanger Positively Regulates Salt Tolerance by Maintaining Higher K⁺/Na⁺ Ratio in Soybean.PMC7985447Wang MFan HZhang JMa NWang CCao JWang DSun TfalseA Golgi-Localized Sodium/Hydrogen Exchanger Positively Regulates Salt Tolerance by Maintaining Higher K⁺/Na⁺ Ratio in Soybean.Salt stress caused by soil salinization, is one of the main factors that reduce soybean yield and quality. A large number of genes have been found to be involved in the regulation of salt tolerance. In this study, we characterized a soybean sodium/hydrogen exchanger gene <i>GmNHX5</i> and revealed its functional mechanism involved in the salt tolerance process in soybean. <i>GmNHX5</i> responded to salt stress at the transcription level in the salt stress-tolerant soybean plants, but not significantly changed in the salt-sensitive ones. GmNHX5 was located in the Golgi apparatus, and distributed in new leaves and vascular, and was induced by salt treatment. Overexpression of <i>GmNHX5</i> improved the salt tolerance of hairy roots induced by soybean cotyledons, while the opposite was observed when <i>GmNHX5</i> was knockout by CRISPR/Cas9. Soybean seedlings overexpressing <i>GmNHX5</i> also showed an increased expression of <i>GmSOS1</i>, <i>GmSKOR</i>, and <i>GmHKT1</i>, higher K⁺/Na⁺ ratio, and higher viability when exposed to salt stress. Our findings provide an effective candidate gene for the cultivation of salt-tolerant germplasm resources and new clues for further understanding of the salt-tolerance mechanism in plants.2021-01-01T00:00:00Z20212026-04-30T03:11:35.564Z2025-04-05T19:12:20.308ZS-EPMC79854473376772210.3389/fpls.2021.638340