GmTCP40 Promotes Soybean Flowering under Long-Day Conditions by Binding to the <i>GmAP1a</i> Promoter and Upregulating Its Expression
Lixin Zhang,
Peiguo Wang,
Miao Wang,
Xin Xu,
Hongchang Jia,
Tingting Wu,
Shan Yuan,
Bingjun Jiang,
Shi Sun,
Tianfu Han,
Liwei Wang,
Fulu Chen
Affiliations
Lixin Zhang
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Key Laboratory of Soybean Biology (Beijing), Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, 12 Zhongguancun South Street, Beijing 100081, China
Peiguo Wang
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Key Laboratory of Soybean Biology (Beijing), Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, 12 Zhongguancun South Street, Beijing 100081, China
Miao Wang
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Key Laboratory of Soybean Biology (Beijing), Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, 12 Zhongguancun South Street, Beijing 100081, China
Xin Xu
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Key Laboratory of Soybean Biology (Beijing), Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, 12 Zhongguancun South Street, Beijing 100081, China
Hongchang Jia
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Key Laboratory of Soybean Biology (Beijing), Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, 12 Zhongguancun South Street, Beijing 100081, China
Tingting Wu
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Key Laboratory of Soybean Biology (Beijing), Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, 12 Zhongguancun South Street, Beijing 100081, China
Shan Yuan
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Key Laboratory of Soybean Biology (Beijing), Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, 12 Zhongguancun South Street, Beijing 100081, China
Bingjun Jiang
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Key Laboratory of Soybean Biology (Beijing), Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, 12 Zhongguancun South Street, Beijing 100081, China
Shi Sun
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Key Laboratory of Soybean Biology (Beijing), Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, 12 Zhongguancun South Street, Beijing 100081, China
Tianfu Han
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Key Laboratory of Soybean Biology (Beijing), Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, 12 Zhongguancun South Street, Beijing 100081, China
Liwei Wang
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Key Laboratory of Soybean Biology (Beijing), Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, 12 Zhongguancun South Street, Beijing 100081, China
Fulu Chen
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Key Laboratory of Soybean Biology (Beijing), Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, 12 Zhongguancun South Street, Beijing 100081, China
Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] is a short-day (SD) plant that is sensitive to photoperiod, which influences flowering, maturity, and even adaptation. TEOSINTE-BRANCHED1/CYCLOIDEA/PROLIFERATING CELL FACTOR (TCP) transcription factors have been shown to regulate photoperiodic flowering. However, the roles of TCPs in SD plants such as soybean, rice, and maize remain largely unknown. In this study, we cloned the GmTCP40 gene from soybean and investigated its expression pattern and function. Compared with wild-type (WT) plants, GmTCP40-overexpression plants flowered earlier under long-day (LD) conditions but not under SD conditions. Consistent with this, the overexpression lines showed upregulation of the flowering-related genes GmFT2a, GmFT2b, GmFT5a, GmFT6, GmAP1a, GmAP1b, GmAP1c, GmSOC1a, GmSOC1b, GmFULa, and GmAG under LD conditions. Further investigation revealed that GmTCP40 binds to the GmAP1a promoter and promotes its expression. Analysis of the GmTCP40 haplotypes and phenotypes of soybean accessions demonstrated that one GmTCP40 haplotype (Hap6) may contribute to delayed flowering at low latitudes. Taken together, our findings provide preliminary insights into the regulation of flowering time by GmTCP40 while laying a foundation for future research on other members of the GmTCP family and for efforts to enhance soybean adaptability.
