Project description:Brassinosteroids (BRs) are a series of sterol hormones in plants, which play important physiological roles in many aspects of plant growth and development processes. Exogenous application of BR and its inhibitors PPZ to investigated the roles of BR in soybean root growth and development. Transcriptome sequencing analysis was performed to identified lots number of differential expression genes(DEGs) by eBL (2,4-epicastasterone, 24-epiCS) and PPZ (propiconazole) treatment of soybean root tips(1 cm).
Project description:Melatonin is a well-known agent that plays multiple roles in animals. Its possible function in plants is less clear. In the present study, we tested the effect of melatonin (N-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine) on soybean growth and development. Both spraying of leaves and seed-coating with melatonin significantly promoted soybean growth as judged from leaf size and plant height. This enhancement was also observed in soybean production and their fatty acid content. Melatonin increased pod number, seed number and seed weight. However, the 100-seed weight was not influenced by melatonin application. Melatonin also improved soybean tolerance to salt and drought stresses. Transcriptome analysis revealed that melatonin up-regulated the expression of many genes and alleviated the inhibitory effects of salt stress on gene expressions. Further detailed analysis of the affected pathways documents that melatonin likely achieved its promotional roles in soybean through enhancement of genes involved in cell division, photosynthesis, carbohydrate metabolism, fatty acid biosynthesis and ascorbate metabolism. Our results demonstrate that melatonin has significant potential for improving of soybean growth and seed production. Further study should uncover more about the molecular mechanisms of melatoninM-bM-^@M-^Ys function in soybeans and other crops. Four different treatments were chosen, water, salt, 100M-BM-5M melatonin and salt plus 100M-BM-5M melatonin. The comparison of salt/melatonin-treated sample versus water-treated sample reveals salt or melatonin induced transcriptome changes. The comparison of melatonin plus salt treated sample versus salt-treated sample reveals melatonin induced changes when salt exists.
Project description:Melatonin is a well-known agent that plays multiple roles in animals. Its possible function in plants is less clear. In the present study, we tested the effect of melatonin (N-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine) on soybean growth and development. Both spraying of leaves and seed-coating with melatonin significantly promoted soybean growth as judged from leaf size and plant height. This enhancement was also observed in soybean production and their fatty acid content. Melatonin increased pod number, seed number and seed weight. However, the 100-seed weight was not influenced by melatonin application. Melatonin also improved soybean tolerance to salt and drought stresses. Transcriptome analysis revealed that melatonin up-regulated the expression of many genes and alleviated the inhibitory effects of salt stress on gene expressions. Further detailed analysis of the affected pathways documents that melatonin likely achieved its promotional roles in soybean through enhancement of genes involved in cell division, photosynthesis, carbohydrate metabolism, fatty acid biosynthesis and ascorbate metabolism. Our results demonstrate that melatonin has significant potential for improving of soybean growth and seed production. Further study should uncover more about the molecular mechanisms of melatonin’s function in soybeans and other crops.
Project description:Background The homeodomain leucine zipper (HD-Zip) transcription factor family is one of the largest plant specific superfamilies, and includes genes with roles in modulation of plant growth and response to environmental stresses. Many HD-Zip genes are characterized in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), and members of the family are being investigated for abiotic stress responses in rice (Oryza sativa), maize (Zea mays), poplar (Populus trichocarpa) and cucumber (Cucmis sativus). Findings in these species suggest HD-Zip genes as high priority candidates for crop improvement. Results In this study we have identified members of the HD-Zip gene family in soybean cv. 'Williams 82', and characterized their expression under dehydration and salt stress. Homology searches with BLASTP and Hidden Markov Model guided sequence alignments identified 101 HD-Zip genes in the soybean genome. Phylogeny reconstruction coupled with domain and gene structure analyses using soybean, Arabidopsis, rice, grape (Vitis vinifera), and Medicago truncatula homologues enabled placement of these sequences into four previously described subfamilies. Of the 101 HD-Zip genes identified in soybean, 88 exist as whole-genome duplication-derived gene pairs, indicating high retention of these genes following polyploidy in Glycine ~10 Mya. The HD-Zip genes exhibit ubiquitous expression patterns across 24 conditions that include 17 tissues of soybean. An RNA-Seq experiment performed to study differential gene expression at 0, 1, 6 and 12 hr soybean roots under dehydration and salt stress identified 20 differentially expressed (DE) genes. Several of these DE genes are orthologs of genes previously reported to play a role under abiotic stress, implying conservation of HD-Zip gene functions across species. Screening of HD-Zip promoters identified transcription factor binding sites that are overrepresented in the DE genes under both dehydration and salt stress, providing further support for the role of HD-Zip genes in abiotic stress responses. Conclusions We provide a thorough description of soybean HD-Zip genes, and identify potential candidates with probable roles in dehydration and salt stress. Expression profiles generated for all soybean genes, under dehydration and salt stress, at four time points, will serve as an important resource for the soybean research community, and will aid in understanding plant responses to abiotic stress.
Project description:Background The homeodomain leucine zipper (HD-Zip) transcription factor family is one of the largest plant specific superfamilies, and includes genes with roles in modulation of plant growth and response to environmental stresses. Many HD-Zip genes are characterized in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), and members of the family are being investigated for abiotic stress responses in rice (Oryza sativa), maize (Zea mays), poplar (Populus trichocarpa) and cucumber (Cucmis sativus). Findings in these species suggest HD-Zip genes as high priority candidates for crop improvement. Results In this study we have identified members of the HD-Zip gene family in soybean cv. 'Williams 82', and characterized their expression under dehydration and salt stress. Homology searches with BLASTP and Hidden Markov Model guided sequence alignments identified 101 HD-Zip genes in the soybean genome. Phylogeny reconstruction coupled with domain and gene structure analyses using soybean, Arabidopsis, rice, grape (Vitis vinifera), and Medicago truncatula homologues enabled placement of these sequences into four previously described subfamilies. Of the 101 HD-Zip genes identified in soybean, 88 exist as whole-genome duplication-derived gene pairs, indicating high retention of these genes following polyploidy in Glycine ~10 Mya. The HD-Zip genes exhibit ubiquitous expression patterns across 24 conditions that include 17 tissues of soybean. An RNA-Seq experiment performed to study differential gene expression at 0, 1, 6 and 12 hr soybean roots under dehydration and salt stress identified 20 differentially expressed (DE) genes. Several of these DE genes are orthologs of genes previously reported to play a role under abiotic stress, implying conservation of HD-Zip gene functions across species. Screening of HD-Zip promoters identified transcription factor binding sites that are overrepresented in the DE genes under both dehydration and salt stress, providing further support for the role of HD-Zip genes in abiotic stress responses. Conclusions We provide a thorough description of soybean HD-Zip genes, and identify potential candidates with probable roles in dehydration and salt stress. Expression profiles generated for all soybean genes, under dehydration and salt stress, at four time points, will serve as an important resource for the soybean research community, and will aid in understanding plant responses to abiotic stress. We sequenced mRNA from soybean cv. "Williams 82" root samples that includes three control samples (0 hr), and three biological replicates for each of the three time points 1, 6 and 12 hr under dehydration and salt stress
Project description:Background: Pollen, the male partner in the reproduction of flowering plants, comprises either two or three cells at maturity. The current knowledge of the pollen transcriptome is limited to the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, which has tri-cellular pollen grains at maturity. Comparative studies on pollen of other genera, particularly crop plants, are needed to understand the pollen gene networks that are subject to functional and evolutionary conservation. In this study, we used the Affymetrix Soybean GeneChip® to perform transcriptional profiling on mature bi-cellular soybean pollen. Results: Compared to the sporophyte transcriptome, the soybean pollen transcriptome revealed a restricted and unique repertoire of genes, with a significantly greater proportion of specifically expressed genes than is found in the sporophyte tissue. Comparative analysis shows that, among the 37,500 soybean unique transcripts addressed in this study, 10,299 genes (27.46%) are expressed in pollen. Of the pollen-expressed genes, about 9,489 (92.13%) are also expressed in sporophytic tissues, and 810 (7.87%) are selectively expressed in pollen. Overall, the soybean pollen transcriptome shows an enrichment of transcription factors (mostly zinc finger family proteins), cell cycle-related transcripts, signal recognition receptors, ethylene responsive factors, chromatin remodeling factors, and members of the ubiquitin proteasome proteolytic pathway. Moreover, we identify several new pollen-specific candidate genes that might play a significant role in pollen biology. Conclusion: This is the first report of a soybean pollen transcriptional profile. These data extend our current knowledge regarding regulatory pathways that govern the gene regulation and development of pollen. We also demonstrate that pollen is a rich store of regulatory proteins that are essential and sufficient for de novo gene expression. A comparison between transcription factors up-regulated in soybean and those upregulated in Arabidopsis revealed some divergence in the numbers and kinds of regulatory proteins expressed in both species.
Project description:Soybean (Glycine max) seeds are an important source of seed storage compounds, including protein, oil, and sugar used for food, feed, chemical, and biofuel production. We assessed detailed temporal transcriptional and metabolic changes in developing soybean embryos to gain a systems biology view of developmental and metabolic changes and to identify potential targets for metabolic engineering. Two major developmental and metabolic transitions were captured enabling identification of potential metabolic engineering targets specific to seed filling and to desiccation. The first transition involved a switch between different types of metabolism in dividing and elongating cells. The second transition involved the onset of maturation and desiccation tolerance during seed filling and a switch from photoheterotrophic to heterotrophic metabolism. Clustering analyses of metabolite and transcript data revealed clusters of functionally related metabolites and transcripts active in these different developmental and metabolic programs. The gene clusters provide a resource to generate predictions about the associations and interactions of unknown regulators with their targets based on guilt-by-association relationships. The inferred regulators also represent potential targets for future metabolic engineering of relevant pathways and steps in central carbon and nitrogen metabolism in soybean embryos and drought and desiccation tolerance in plants.
Project description:Alkali stress is one of the most severe abiotic stresses affecting agricultural production worldwide. To understand the phosphorylation events in soybean in response to alkali stress, we performed the TMT labeling-based quantitative phosphoproteomic analyses on soybean leaf and root tissues under 50 mM NaHCO3 treatment.
Project description:Tropospheric ozone (O3) is a secondary air pollutant and anthropogenic greenhouse gas. Concentrations of tropospheric O3 have more than doubled since the Industrial Revolution, and are high enough to damage plant productivity. Soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.) is the worldâs most important legume crop and is sensitive to O3. Current ground-level O3 are estimated to reduce global soybean yields by 6% to 16%. In order to understand transcriptional mechanisms of yield loss in soybean, we examined the transcriptome of soybean flower and pod tissues exposed to elevated O3 using RNA-Sequencing.
Project description:Soil salinity is a major abiotic stressor inhibiting plant growth and development by affecting a range of physiological processes. Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) are considered a sustainable option for alleviation of stress and enhancement of plant growth, yet their mode of action is complex and largely unexplored. In this study, an untargeted proteomic approach provided insights into growth and stress response mechanisms elicited in soybean plants by Rhizobium sp. SL42 and Hydrogenophaga sp. SL48. The plants were grown under optimal and salt-stressed conditions up to their mid-vegetative stage; shoot growth variables were increased in the bacteria-treated plants. Shotgun proteomics of soybean leaf tissue revealed that a number of proteins related to plant growth and stress tolerance were modulated in the bacterial inoculation treatments. Several key proteins involved in major metabolic pathways of photosynthesis, respiration and photorespiration were upregulated. These include photosystem I psaK, Rubisco subunits, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, succinate dehydrogenase and glycine decarboxylase. Similarly, stress response proteins such as catalase and glutathione S-transferase (antioxidants), proline-rich precursor protein (osmolyte), and NADP-dependent malic enzyme (linked to ABA signaling) were increased under salt stress. The functions of proteins related to plant growth and stress adaptation led to an expanded understanding of plant-microbe interactions. These findings suggest that the PGPR strains regulated proteome expression in soybean leaves through multiple signaling pathways, thereby inducing salinity tolerance and improving plant growth in the presence of this abiotic stress challenge. They play a crucial role in the development of soybean plants under stressful conditions and therefore could potentially be utilized as biostimulants to mitigate stress effects and boost crop productivity.