Developmental dynamic transcriptome and systematic analysis reveal the major genes underlying isoflavone accumulation in soybean

Heng Chen; Changkai Liu; Yansheng Li; Xue Wang; Xiangwen Pan; Feifei Wang; Qiuying Zhang

doi:10.3389/fpls.2023.1014349

Developmental dynamic transcriptome and systematic analysis reveal the major genes underlying isoflavone accumulation in soybean

Front Plant Sci. 2023 Mar 7:14:1014349. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1014349. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Heng Chen^{1

2

3}, Changkai Liu^{1

2}, Yansheng Li^{1

2}, Xue Wang^{1

2}, Xiangwen Pan^{1

2}, Feifei Wang^{1

2}, Qiuying Zhang^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Soybean Molecular Design and Breeding, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Harbin, China.
² Innovation Academy for Seed Design, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Harbin, China.
³ College of Advanced Agricultural Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.

Abstract

Introduction: Soy isoflavone, a class of polyphenolic compounds exclusively occurred in legumes, is an important bioactive compound for both plants and human beings. The outline of isoflavones biosynthesis pathway has been drawn up basically in the previous research. However, research on the subject has been mostly restricted to investigate the static regulation of isoflavone content in soybean, rather than characterize its dynamic variation and modulation network in developing seeds.

Methods: In this study, by using eight recombinant inbred lines (RIL), the contents of six isoflavone components in the different stages of developing soybean seeds were determined to characterize the dynamic variation of isoflavones, and the isoflavones accumulation pattern at physiological level was investigated. Meanwhile, we integrated and analyzed the whole genome expression profile of four lines and 42 meta-transcriptome data, based on the multiple algorithms.

Results: This study: 1) obtained 4 molecular modules strongly correlated with isoflavone accumulation; 2) identified 28 novel major genes that could affect the accumulation of isoflavones in developing seeds free from the limitation of environments; 3) discussed the dynamic molecular patterns regulating isoflavones accumulation in developing seed; 4) expanded the isoflavone biosynthesis pathway.

Discussion: The results not only promote the understandings on the biosynthesis and regulation of isoflavones at physiological and molecular level, but also facilitate to breed elite soybean cultivars with high isoflavone contents.

Keywords: dynamic accumulation patterns; dynamic regulation networks; meta-analysis; soy isoflavone; transcriptome.

Grants and funding

This study was financially supported by Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDA24030403-3), and the National Key R&D Program of China (2021YFD1201103-03), and the Project for high-tech industrialization of science and technology between Jilin province and Chinese Academy of Sciences (2022SYHZ0039).