title: Identification ofZOUPIOrthologs in Soybean Potentially Involved in Endosperm Breakdown and Embryogenic Development.
abstract: Soybean (Glycine maxMerr.) is the world's most widely grown legume and provides an important source of protein and oil. Improvement of seed quality requires deep insights into the genetic regulation of seed development. The endosperm serves as a temporary source of nutrients that are transported from maternal to filial tissues, and it also generates signals for proper embryo formation. Endosperm cell death is associated with the processes of nutrient transfer and embryo expansion. The bHLH domain transcription factor AtZHOUPI (AtZOU) plays a key role in both the lysis of the transient endosperm and the formation of embryo cuticle inArabidopsis thaliana. There are two copies of soybeanGmZOU(GmZOU-1andGmZOU-2), which fall into the same phylogenetic clade asAtZOU. These two copies share the same transcription orientation and are the result of tandem duplication. The expression ofGmZOUsis limited to the endosperm, where it peaks during the heart embryo stage. When the exogenousGmZOU-1andGmZOU-2were expressed in thezou-4mutant ofArabidopsis, onlyGmZOU-1partially complemented thezoumutant phenotype, as indicated by endosperm breakdown and embryo cuticle formation in the transgenic lines. This research confirmed that theGmZOU-1is aZOUortholog that may be responsible for endosperm breakdown and embryo cuticle formation in soybean.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Soybean Molecular Design Breeding, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences Changchun, China.
authors.forename: Yaohua
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Soybean Molecular Design Breeding, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences Changchun, China.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Soybean Molecular Design Breeding, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences Changchun, China.
authors.forename: Suxin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Soybean Molecular Design Breeding, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences Changchun, China.
authors.forename: Xianzhong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Feng
keywords: GmZOU; endosperm breakdown; seed development; soybean; transcription factor