Hydrogen sulphide (H 2 S), a new gas signal molecule, participates in the regulation of various abiotic stresses in plants. However, how the tandem working of H 2 S and rhizobia affects the adaptation of soybean to water deficiency is still unclear. In this study, we investigated the adaptation mechanism of H 2 S and rhizobia in soybean to water deficiency. Our results revealed that H 2 S and rhizobia jointly enhanced the leaf

Hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S) performs a crucial role in plant development and abiotic stress responses by interacting with other signalling molecules. However, the synergistic involvement of H 2 S and rhizobia in photosynthetic carbon (C) metabolism in soybean (Glycine max) under nitrogen (N) deficiency has been largely overlooked.Therefore, we scrutinised how H 2 S drives photosynthetic C fixation, utilisation, and accumulation in soybean-rhizobia symbiotic systems. When soybeans encountered N deficiency, organ growth, grain output, and nodule N-fixation performance were considerably improved owing to H 2 S and rhizobia. Furthermore, H 2 S collaborated with rhizobia to actively govern assimilation product generation and transport, modulating C allocation, utilisation, and accumulation. Additionally, H 2 S and rhizobia profoundly affected critical enzyme activities and coding gene expressions implicated in C fixation, transport, and metabolism. Furthermore, we observed substantial effects of H 2 S and rhizobia on primary metabolism and C-N coupled metabolic networks in essential organs via C metabolic regulation. Consequently, H 2 S synergy with rhizobia inspired complex primary metabolism and C-N coupled metabolic pathways by directing the expression of key enzymes and related coding genes involved in C metabolism, stimulating effective C fixation, transport, and distribution, and ultimately improving N fixation, growth, and grain yield in soybeans.