The basic leucine zipper (bZIP) is a plant-specific transcription factor family that plays crucial roles in response to biotic and abiotic stresses. However, little is known about the function of bZIP genes in soybean. In this study, we isolated a bZIP gene, GmbZIP19, from soybean. A subcellular localization study of GmbZIP19 revealed its nucleus localization. We showed that GmbZIP19 expression was significantly induced by ABA (abscisic acid), JA (jasmonic acid) and SA (salicylic acid), but reduced under salt and drought stress conditions. Further, GmbZIP19 overexpression Arabidopsis lines showed increased resistance to S. sclerotiorum and Pseudomonas syringae associated with upregulated ABA-, JA-, ETH- (ethephon-)and SA-induced marker genes expression, but exhibited sensitivity to salt and drought stresses in association with destroyed stomatal closure and downregulated the salt and drought stresses marker genes’ expression. We generated a soybean transient GmbZIP19 overexpression line, performed a Chromatin immunoprecipitation assay and found that GmbZIP19 bound to promoters of ABA-, JA-, ETH-, and SA-induced marker genes in soybean. The yeast one-hybrid verified the combination. The current study suggested that GmbZIP19 is a positive regulator of pathogen resistance and a negative regulator of salt and drought stress tolerance.

Fructose-1,6-bisphosphate aldolase (FBA) is an important catalytic enzyme in carbon metabolism and plays an important role in plant growth and development. Currently, the biological functions of FBA in soybean (Glycine max) remain unknown. In this study, we conducted research on FBA in soybean and identified 14 GmFBA genes. Among them, GmFBAc1 and GmFBAc2 are broadly expressed in different tissues. Double mutant lines of GmFBAc1 and GmFBAc2 were obtained by CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technology. Compared with the wild type, the double-gene homozygous mutant gmfbac1gmfbac2 exhibited dwarf seedlings and narrow leaflets, indicating that GmFBAc1 and GmFBAc2 are critical for soybean growth and development. The gmfbac1gmfbac2 metabolomic analysis revealed that compared to the wild type, carbohydrate metabolism was reduced and amino acid metabolism was enhanced in gmfbac1gmfbac2 mutant leaves. Transcriptomic analysis showed that genes in IAA signaling and JA signaling were downregulated and upregulated, respectively. Our study demonstrates an important role of GmFBAc1 and GmFBAc2 in modulating carbon metabolism and phytohormone homeostasis.