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Seed imbibition and radicle emergence are generally less affected by salinity in soybean than in other crop plants. In order to unveil the mechanisms underlying this remarkable salt tolerance of soybean at seed germination, a comparative label-free shotgun proteomic analysis of embryonic axes exposed to salinity during germination sensu stricto (GSS) was conducted. The results revealed that the application of 100 and 200 mmol/L NaCl stress was accompanied by significant changes (>2-fold, P<0.05) of 97 and 75 proteins, respectively. Most of these salt-responsive proteins (70%) were classified into three major functional categories: disease/defense response, protein destination and storage and primary metabolism. The involvement of these proteins in salt tolerance of soybean was discussed, and some of them were suggested to be potential salt-tolerant proteins. Furthermore, our results suggest that the cross-protection against aldehydes, oxidative as well as osmotic stress, is the major adaptive response to salinity in soybean.