Ectopic expression of in Arabidopsis delays flowering modulating the expression of gibberellic acid biosynthesis- and flowering-related genes and promotes lateral root emergence in low phosphorus conditions.

NUCLEAR FACTOR Y subunit alpha (NF-YA), together with NF-YB and NF-YC, regulates plant growth and development, as well as plant responses to biotic and abiotic stresses. Although extensive studies have examined the functions of NF-YAs in , the roles of NF- YAs in are poorly understood. In this study, we identified a phosphorus (P) starvation-responsive in soybean. The expression of is induced by low P or low nitrogen in leaves, but not by potassium or iron starvation, respectively. GmNF-YA8 is localized in the nucleus and plasma membrane. Ectopic expression of inhibits plant growth and delayed flowering in . Exogenous application of gibberellic acid (GA) rescues the delayed flowering phenotype in overexpressing lines GmNF-YA8OE-05 and GmNF-YA8OE-20. Moreover, quantitative real time PCR (qRT-PCR) verified that overexpression of downregulates and expression, but upregulates and that encode enzymes, which inactive bioactive GAs. Consistent with the late flowering phenotype of trangenic lines that overexpress , the transcript levels of flowering-promoting genes , , , and are reduced. In addition, overexpression of promotes the emergence of lateral root (LR) primordium from epidermis rather than the initiation of LR in low P, and increases the LR density in low nitrogen. Our results provide insights into the roles of .