Wang Congcong, Lin Jianyu, Bu Yuanpeng, Sun Ruidong, Lu Yang, Gai JunYi, Xing Han, Guo Na, Zhao Jinming
Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetics Improvement of Soybean, Ministry of Agriculture / Zhongshan Biological Breeding Laboratory (ZSBBL) / National Innovation Platform for Soybean Breeding and Industry-Education Integration / State Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics & Germplasm Enhancement and Utilization / College of Agriculture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China.
Hortic Res. 2024 Apr 2;11(5):uhae084. doi: 10.1093/hr/uhae084. eCollection 2024 May.
Seed hardness is an important quality trait of vegetable soybean. To determine the factors underlying seed hardness, two landraces with contrasting seed hardness, Niumaohuang (low seed hardness) and Pixiansilicao (high seed hardness), were selected from 216 soybean accessions originating from 26 provinces in China. The contents of the main components in vegetable soybean seeds such as water, soluble sugar, starch, protein and oil were measured, and transcriptome analyses performed during five stages of seed developmental. Transcriptome analysis indicates that during the middle and late stages of seed development, a large number of genes involved in the synthesis or degradation of starch, storage protein, and fatty acids were differentially expressed, leading to differences in the accumulation of stored substances during seed maturation among Niumaohuang and Pixiansilicao. The activity of cell proliferation and the formation of cell walls in the middle and late stages of seed development may also affect the hardness of seeds to a certain extent. In addition, weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) was undertaken to identify co-expressed gene modules and hub genes that regulate seed hardness. Overexpression of a candidate seed hardness regulatory hub gene, , resulted in increased seed hardness. In this study, the important role of in regulating the hardness of vegetable soybean seeds was verified and numerous potential key regulators controlling seed hardness and the proportion of seed components were identified, laying the groundwork for improving the texture of vegetable soybean.
种子硬度是菜用大豆的一个重要品质性状。为了确定种子硬度的潜在影响因素，从来自中国26个省份的216份大豆种质资源中，挑选出两个种子硬度差异明显的地方品种，牛毛黄（种子硬度低）和郫县丝毛草（种子硬度高）。测定了菜用大豆种子中水分、可溶性糖、淀粉、蛋白质和油脂等主要成分的含量，并在种子发育的五个阶段进行了转录组分析。转录组分析表明，在种子发育的中后期，大量参与淀粉、贮藏蛋白和脂肪酸合成或降解的基因差异表达，导致牛毛黄和郫县丝毛草种子成熟过程中贮藏物质积累存在差异。种子发育中后期细胞增殖活性和细胞壁形成也可能在一定程度上影响种子硬度。此外，进行了加权基因共表达网络分析（WGCNA），以鉴定调控种子硬度的共表达基因模块和枢纽基因。一个候选种子硬度调控枢纽基因的过表达导致种子硬度增加。在本研究中，验证了该基因在调控菜用大豆种子硬度方面的重要作用，并鉴定了众多控制种子硬度和种子成分比例的潜在关键调控因子，为改善菜用大豆的质地奠定了基础。
