Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merri.] is an important oilseed and food crop. In recent years, environmental degradation has accelerated soil alkalization, salinization, and water deficit, which have seriously threatened the soybean quality and yield. Chaperone DNAJ proteins play important roles in plant response to a number of abiotic and biotic stresses. Here, we investigated the function of a soybean DNAJ gene, GmDNAJC7, in plant tolerance to abiotic stresses. GmDNAJC7 gene expression was induced by alkaline-salt, salt, and drought treatments in soybean roots, suggesting its possible role in soybean response to these stresses. GmDNAJC7 overexpression improved the alkaline-salt tolerance of soybean composite plants, which showed a higher SPAD (Soil and Plant Analysis Development) value for chlorophyll content and leaf relative water content than the control plants after NaHCO₃ treatment. Moreover, the GmDNAJC7 overexpressing Arabidopsis had a higher germination rate and average root length than the wild type and dnajc7 mutant, under NaHCO₃, NaCl, and mannitol stresses, indicating that the ectopic expression of the GmDNAJC7 gene enhanced the alkaline-salt, salt, and drought tolerance in Arabidopsis. These findings suggest that GmDNAJC7 is involved in the alkaline-salt, salt, and drought tolerance in Arabidopsis and soybean. This study provides new insights into the role of DNAJ proteins in plant tolerance to abiotic stress.

Soybean is an important source of oil, protein, and feed. However, its yield is far below that of major cereal crops. The green revolution increased the yield of cereal crops partially through high‐density planting of lodging‐resistant semi‐dwarf varieties, but required more nitrogen fertilizers, posing an environmental threat. Genes that can improve nitrogen use efficiency need to be integrated into semi‐dwarf varieties to avoid the overuse of fertilizers without the loss of dwarfism. Unlike cereal crops, soybean can assimilate atmospheric nitrogen through symbiotic bacteria. Here, we created new alleles of GmGID1‐2 ( Glycine max GIBBERELLIN INSENSITIVE DWARF 1‐2) using clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR‐associated nuclease 9 (Cas9) editing, which improved soybean architecture, yield, seed oil content, and nitrogen fixation, by regulation of important pathways and known genes related to branching, lipid metabolism, and nodule symbiosis. GmGID1‐2 knockout reduced plant height, and increased stem diameter and strength, number of branches, nodes on the primary stem, pods, and seeds per plant, leading to an increase in seed weight per plant and yield in soybean. The nodule number, nodule weight, nitrogenase activity, and nitrogen content were also improved in GmGID1‐2 knockout soybean lines, which is novel compared with the semi‐dwarf genes in cereal crops. No loss‐of‐function allele for GmGID1‐2 was identified in soybean germplasm and the edited GmGID1‐2s are superior to the natural alleles, suggesting the GmGID1‐2 knockout mutants generated in this study are valuable genetic resources to further improve soybean yield and seed oil content in future breeding programs. This study illustrates the pleiotropic functions of the GID1 knockout alleles with positive effects on plant architecture, yield, and nitrogen fixation in soybean, which provides a promising strategy toward sustainable agriculture.

Aluminum (Al) toxicity is an important barrier to soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) production in acid soils. However, little is known about the genes underlying Al tolerance in soybean. We aim to find the key candidate genes and investigate their roles in soybean tolerance to Al toxicity in this study. Comparative transcriptome analyses of the Al-tolerant (KF) and Al-sensitive (GF) soybean varieties under control and Al stress at 6, 12, and 24 h were investigated. A total of 1411 genes showed specific up-regulation in KF or more up-regulation in KF than in GF by Al stress, which were significantly enriched in the GO terms of peroxidase (POD) activity, transporter activity (including the known Al tolerance-related ABC transporter, ALMT, and MATE), and four families of transcription factors (AP2, C3H4, MYB, WRKY). The expression levels of seven POD genes were up-regulated by Al stress for at least one time point in KF. The H₂O₂ pretreatment significantly improved Al tolerance of KF, which is likely due to increased POD activity induced by H₂O₂. Our results suggest that PODs play important roles in soybean tolerance to Al toxicity. We also propose a list of candidate genes for Al tolerance in KF, which would provide valuable insights into the Al tolerance mechanisms in soybean.

The kinesin (KIN) gene family is a subgroup of motor proteins. It plays a critical role in plant development and responses to environmental stresses. However, their function in soybean salt tolerance has yet to be clearly defined. This study employed bioinformatics approaches and identified 139 kinesin family members in the soybean genome. These 139 genes were classified into 10 subgroups, unevenly distributed across the chromosomes. The promoter regions of GmKIN genes harbored several stress-responsive elements, and segmental duplication was the primary driver of the expansion of the GmKIN gene family. Based on publicly available RNA-seq data, we studied the response patterns of 139 GmKIN genes to salt stress and found that 20 KIN genes in soybeans were upregulated after salt stress, with GmKIN114, GmKIN102, GmKIN109, and GmKIN99 showing more than a threefold increase in their expression under salt stress. Using quantitative fluorescence PCR, transgenic yeast, and a transgenic hairy root system, we preliminarily validated the salt tolerance functions of the four KIN genes in soybeans. This study probed into the GmKIN gene family in soybean, offering valuable insights into the functional roles of these genes in stress adaptation.

Saline-alkali stress and cold damage significantly impact the yield of Brassica napus. G proteins play a crucial role in plant resistance to abiotic stresses, and research on G proteins in Brassica napus (rapeseed) is still in its early stages. In this study, we employed bioinformatics tools to systematically investigate the basic physicochemical properties, phylogenetic relationships, distribution, gene structure, cis-regulatory elements, and expansion patterns of the GS3 gene family in Brassica napus. Additionally, reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to analyze the response of the BnGS3-3 gene to salt and low-temperature stresses. Natural variations were found in the promoter region of BnGS3-3. By conducting a promoter-driven luciferase (LUC) assay, the relationship between natural variations in the BnGS3-3 promoter and salt and cold tolerance was analyzed. Furthermore, the impact of these natural variations on flowering time, root length, and yield was explored using phenotypic data from a population. Our research results aim to provide insights into the function and molecular mechanisms of BnGS3-3 in Brassica napus, and to offer valuable genetic resources for molecular breeding to improve salt and low-temperature tolerance in Brassica napus.

The Aldehyde Dehydrogenase (ALDH) superfamily comprises a group of NAD⁺ or NADP⁺-dependent enzymes that play essential roles in responding to abiotic stresses in plants. In Brassica napus L., however, the increasing frequency of extremely low temperatures during winter in recent years has significantly affected both yield and quality. This study conducted a genome-wide screening of ALDH superfamily genes, analyzing their gene structures, evolutionary relationships, protein physicochemical properties, and expression patterns under low-temperature stress to explore the function of the ALDH superfamily gene in cold tolerance in Brassica napus L. A total of six BnALDH genes with significant differences in expression levels were verified utilizing quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), revealing that BnALDH11A2, BnALDH7B2, BnALDH3F5, BnALDH12A3, BnALDH2B6, and BnALDH7B3 all exhibited higher expression in cold-tolerant material 24W233 compared with cold-sensitive material 24W259. Additionally, a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the BnALDH11A2 promoter region shows differences between the cold-tolerant (24W233) and the cold-sensitive (24W259) Brassica napus varieties, and it may be associated with the cold tolerance of these two varieties. This comprehensive analysis offers valuable insights into the role of ALDH family genes in low-temperature stress adaptation in Brassica napus and offers genetic resources for the development of novel cold-tolerant cultivars.