Integration of physiological and transcriptomic approaches in investigating salt-alkali stress resilience in soybean
Honglei Ren,
Bixian Zhang,
Fengyi Zhang,
Xiulin Liu,
Xueyang Wang,
Chunlei Zhang,
Kezhen Zhao,
Rongqiang Yuan,
Sobhi F. Lamlom,
Ahmed M. Abdelghany,
Jiajun Wang
Affiliations
Honglei Ren
Soybean Research Institute, Heilongjiang Academy of Agriculture Sciences/Harbin Branch of National Soybean Improvement Center/Northeastern Precocious Soybean Scientific Observation Station of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Harbin 150086, China; Corresponding authors.
Bixian Zhang
Soybean Research Institute, Heilongjiang Academy of Agriculture Sciences/Harbin Branch of National Soybean Improvement Center/Northeastern Precocious Soybean Scientific Observation Station of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Harbin 150086, China; Corresponding authors.
Fengyi Zhang
Soybean Research Institute, Heilongjiang Academy of Agriculture Sciences/Harbin Branch of National Soybean Improvement Center/Northeastern Precocious Soybean Scientific Observation Station of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Harbin 150086, China
Xiulin Liu
Soybean Research Institute, Heilongjiang Academy of Agriculture Sciences/Harbin Branch of National Soybean Improvement Center/Northeastern Precocious Soybean Scientific Observation Station of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Harbin 150086, China
Xueyang Wang
Soybean Research Institute, Heilongjiang Academy of Agriculture Sciences/Harbin Branch of National Soybean Improvement Center/Northeastern Precocious Soybean Scientific Observation Station of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Harbin 150086, China
Chunlei Zhang
Soybean Research Institute, Heilongjiang Academy of Agriculture Sciences/Harbin Branch of National Soybean Improvement Center/Northeastern Precocious Soybean Scientific Observation Station of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Harbin 150086, China
Kezhen Zhao
Soybean Research Institute, Heilongjiang Academy of Agriculture Sciences/Harbin Branch of National Soybean Improvement Center/Northeastern Precocious Soybean Scientific Observation Station of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Harbin 150086, China
Rongqiang Yuan
Soybean Research Institute, Heilongjiang Academy of Agriculture Sciences/Harbin Branch of National Soybean Improvement Center/Northeastern Precocious Soybean Scientific Observation Station of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Harbin 150086, China
Sobhi F. Lamlom
Plant Production Department, Faculty of Agriculture Saba Basha, Alexandria University, Alexandria 21531, Egypt
Soybean Research Institute, Heilongjiang Academy of Agriculture Sciences/Harbin Branch of National Soybean Improvement Center/Northeastern Precocious Soybean Scientific Observation Station of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Harbin 150086, China; Corresponding authors.
Salt-alkali stress is a key factor affecting plant development and production, altering essential physiological and metabolic processes within plants. Particularly, soybean (Glycine max) exhibits a wide range of salt-alkali tolerance in soybean germplasms. Hence, the objective of this research was to pinpoint potential genes that react to salt-alkali stress through a comparative transcriptome analysis of two distinct soybean varieties exposed to such stress conditions. The two soybean varieties, including salt-tolerant Heinong531 and salt-sensitive 20_1846, were used for RNA-seq analysis. Nine physiological parameters including malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione (GSH), peroxidase (POD), proline, catalase (CAT), soluble protein, scavenging rate of hydroxyl radical, and soluble sugar activity were measured under the salt-alkaline treatment series of 0,1,2,3,4 days. The results showed that the levels of MDA, proline, and catalase contents decreased significantly, while levels of GSH and POD contents significantly increased. A total of 200 salt-alkali tolerance responsive differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified, comprising 93 up-regulated genes and 107 down-regulated. The functional gene ontology analysis for these 200 DEGs, where 29 key DEGs were found to be involved in the regulation of 14 GO pathways responding to salt-alkaline stress which have been previously considered as vital for salt resistance mechanisms in soybean. Remarkably, the association analysis between physiological parameters and differentially expressed genes (DEGs) under salt-alkali stress conditions demonstrated that distinct soybean cultivars exhibited unique patterns of gene expression, ultimately resulting in alterations in physiological indices as a response to such stress conditions. This study offers a compilation of potential genes worthy of additional exploration concerning their role in enhancing soybean's resistance to salt-alkali stress.
