Abstract
Senescence is an internally systematized degeneration process leading to death in plants. Leaf yellowing, one of the most prominent features of plant aging may lead to reduced crop yields. The molecular mechanism of responses to senescence in soybean leaves is not completely clear. In our research, two soybean varieties were selected with different stay-green traits: stay-green variety (BN106) and non-stay-green variety (KF14). RNA samples extracted from the leaves of two varieties were sequenced and compared using high-throughput sequencing. Six key enzyme genes in chlorophyll degradation pathways were studied to analyze the changes in their expression at seedling, flowering and maturation stage. Meanwhile, the construction of the genetic transformation process had been constructed to identify the function of putative gene by RNA-interference. A total of 4329 DEGs were involved in 52 functional groups and 254 KEGG pathways. Twelve genes encoding senescence-associated and inducible chloroplast stay-green protein showed significant differential expression. MDCase and PAO have a significant expression in BN106 that may be the key factors affecting the maintenance of green characteristics. In addition, the function of GmSGRs has been identified by genetic transformation. The loss of GmSGRs may cause soybean seeds to change from yellow to green. In summary, our results revealed fundamental information about the molecular mechanism of aging in soybeans with different stay-green characteristics. The work of genetic transformation lays a foundation for putative gene function studies that could contribute to postpone aging in soybeans.
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Abbreviations
- bHLH:
-
basic helix-loop-helix
- bZIP:
-
basic region/leucine zipper motif
- CCE:
-
catabolic enzymes
- DEG:
-
differential expressed genes
- FER:
-
ferretin
- FPKM:
-
fragments per kilobase million
- GO:
-
gene ontology
- HCAR:
-
7-hydroxymethyl chlorophyll a reductase
- KEGG:
-
Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes
- LHCs:
-
light-harvesting complexes
- NOL:
-
non-yellowing coloring like
- NYC:
-
non-yellowing coloring
- PaO:
-
pheophorbide a oxygenase
- PPH:
-
pheophytinase
- RCCR:
-
red chlorophyll catabolite reductase
- SGR :
-
stay-green gene
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Acknowledgements
The authors thank the National Science Foundation for Young Scientists of China (31301200), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31371648), the General Plan for Scientific Research Projects of Beijing Education Commission (KM201810020006), and the Beijing Agricultural College Teacher’s Research Fund Project (SXQN2016104) for their support.
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Wang, C., Gao, L., Li, R.Z. et al. High-throughput sequencing reveals the molecular mechanisms determining the stay-green characteristic in soybeans. J Biosci 45, 103 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12038-020-00074-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12038-020-00074-x