Soybean (Glycine max L.) seed germination in response to waterlogging and cold climate: a review on the genetics and molecular mechanisms of resistance to the abiotic stress

Abstract

Soybean (Glycine max L.) is the most important legume crop in the world, and provides protein and oil for human consumption and animal feed. Cold and waterlogging or flooding are abiotic stress that are commonly encountered during soybean germination in short-season growing conditions in the Northern latitudes. Imbibition of cold water during the germination disrupts the cell membranes and increases leakage of their contents and makes seeds vulnerable to biotic stress. The cold tolerance is associated with the ability of cells to avoid or repair the damage to their membranes and organelles, restoring membrane function, metabolism and managing the reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated during the process. Excess moisture impedes aerobic respiration by oxygen deprivation and increases the likelihood of soil-borne diseases further reducing the germination rate. Tolerance to waterlogging is associated with mechanisms that slow the rate of water uptake and help maintain efficient anaerobic metabolism. The QTL mapping, transcriptomics, and proteomic studies have revealed several genes and pathways that likely play a role in seed response to cold and waterlogging stress. This review discusses the effects of cold and waterlogging on soybean seed germination at the physiological level, the molecular mechanisms involved and provides an overview of soybean waterlogging and cold tolerance research. The methodologies commonly used to study the molecular mechanisms controlling tolerance to waterlogging and cold stress also are reviewed and discussed.

Genome-wide analysis of cold imbibition stress in soybean, Glycine max

“…Dehydration of seeds during the maturation process causes membranes to change from lamellar organization to hexagonal II organization ( Steponkus and Lynch, 1989 ). The seed begins the process of recovery from its dormant state with imbibition; membranes re-organize and regain their function allowing cellular processes to resume ( Suo et al., 2022 ). The reduced overall fitness associated with delays in plasma membrane reorganization can delay the advancement of the germination process and negatively impact seedling establishment ( Leopold, 1980 ).…”

“…The population structure was captured using the covariate P obtained from principle component analysis (PCA), and the relatedness between individuals was estimated using a kinship matrix (K) (VanRaden, 2008). The p-value cut-off for the statistical significance of SNPs was calculated using qvalue package in R based on the false discovery rate (Storey et al, 2022).…”

Cropping system adaptation for enhanced resilience to climate change in cold climate regions

“…Heat tolerance in field pea is associated with quantitative trait locus on chromosomes 2, 5, and 7 (Huang et al 2023), which assists efforts to identify genotypes with superior heat stress tolerance. There is also a genetic and molecular basis to understanding soybean (Glycine max L.) seed germination in response to waterlogging and cold climate (Suo et al 2023). Genetic adaptability will also be critical to the selection of forage crops such as cicer milkvetch (Astragalus cicer L.), a non-bloat perennial forage legume that thrives in colder climates and produces high yields of digestible livestock feed in the colder months (MacTaggart et al 2023).…”