Molecular mechanisms of flowering under long days and stem growth habit in soybean.
Precise timing of flowering is critical to crop adaptation and productivity in a given environment. A number of classical E genes controlling flowering time and maturity have been identified in soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.]. The public availability of the soybean genome sequence has accelerated the identification of orthologues of Arabidopsis flowering genes and their functional analysis, and has allowed notable progress towards understanding the molecular mechanisms of flowering in soybean. Great progress has been made particularly in identifying genes and modules that inhibit flowering in long-day conditions, because a reduced or absent inhibition of flowering by long daylengths is an essential trait for soybean, a short-day (SD) plant, to expand its adaptability toward higher latitude environments. In contrast, the molecular mechanism of floral induction by SDs remains elusive in soybean. Here we present an update on recent work on molecular mechanisms of flowering under long days and of stem growth habit, outlining the progress in the identification of genes responsible, the interplay between photoperiod and age-dependent miRNA-mediated modules, and the conservation and divergence in photoperiodic flowering and stem growth habit in soybean relative to other legumes, Arabidopsis, and rice (Oryza sativa L.).
School of Life Sciences, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou 510006, China.|The Key Laboratory of Soybean Molecular Design Breeding, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Harbin 150081, China.
Dong
D
Cao
Research Faculty of Agriculture, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-8589, Japan.
Ryoma
R
Takeshima
Research Faculty of Agriculture, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-8589, Japan.
Chen
C
Zhao
School of Life Sciences, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou 510006, China.|The Key Laboratory of Soybean Molecular Design Breeding, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Harbin 150081, China.
Baohui
B
Liu
Research Faculty of Agriculture, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-8589, Japan.
Abe
A
Jun
School of Life Sciences, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou 510006, China.|The Key Laboratory of Soybean Molecular Design Breeding, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Harbin 150081, China.
Fanjiang
F
Kong
D002940:Circadian Rhythm / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D018556:Crops, Agricultural / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D019684:Magnoliopsida / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D017440:Photoperiod; D018547:Plant Stems / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D013025:Glycine max / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*
Adaptation; flowering; long day; miRNA; photoperiod; soybean; stem growth habit.