Unfolding molecular switches for salt stress resilience in soybean: recent advances and prospects for salt-tolerant smart plant production

Abstract

The increasing sodium salts (NaCl, NaHCO3, NaSO4 etc.) in agricultural soil is a serious global concern for sustainable agricultural production and food security. Soybean is an important food crop, and their cultivation is severely challenged by high salt concentration in soils. Classical transgenic and innovative breeding technologies are immediately needed to engineer salt tolerant soybean plants. Additionally, unfolding the molecular switches and the key components of the soybean salt tolerance network are crucial for soybean salt tolerance improvement. Here we review our understandings of the core salt stress response mechanism in soybean. Recent findings described that salt stress sensing, signalling, ionic homeostasis (Na+/K+) and osmotic stress adjustment might be important in regulating the soybean salinity stress response. We also evaluated the importance of antiporters and transporters such as Arabidopsis K+ Transporter 1 (AKT1) potassium channel and the impact of epigenetic modification on soybean salt tolerance. We also review key phytohormones, and osmo-protectants and their role in salt tolerance in soybean. In addition, we discuss the progress of omics technologies for identifying salt stress responsive molecular switches and their targeted engineering for salt tolerance in soybean. This review summarizes recent progress in soybean salt stress functional genomics and way forward for molecular breeding for developing salt-tolerant soybean plant.

Designing salt stress‐resilient crops: Current progress and future challenges

“…Natural variations associated with soybean salt tolerance Soybean is a crop that is moderately sensitive to salt stress. In recent years, various QTLs associated with soybean salt tolerance have been preliminarily characterized, and several of them have been genetically validated (Feng et al, 2023). For instance, a QTL termed GmSALT3 accounts for the variation in salt tolerance between the commercial soybean Tiefeng 8 (a salttolerant cultivar) and 85-140 (a salt-sensitive cultivar).…”

Advances in CRISPR/Cas9-based research related to soybean [Glycine max (Linn.) Merr] molecular breeding

“…Salinity can severely decrease the seed yield and quality of soybean, which is a salt-sensitive crop species ( Phang et al., 2008 ; Cai et al., 2022 ; Feng et al., 2023 ). In addition to accelerating the development of salt-tolerant soybean varieties to increase grain yield, research on salt stress tolerance can also optimize the use of saline farmland ( Chen et al., 2018 ; Jin et al., 2021 ).…”

“Bet hedging” against climate change in developing and adult animals: roles for stochastic gene expression, phenotypic plasticity, epigenetic inheritance and adaptation

“…Our understanding of epigenetics and epigenetic inheritance has burgeoned in recent years-for an entry into the literature see (Janssen et al, 2017;Eirin-Lopez and Putnam, 2019;Roberts and Hay, 2019;Sarkies, 2019;Walker and Burggren, 2020a;Safi-Stibler and Gabory, 2020). Modification of the epigenome and its influence on phenotype within an individual's lifespan has been extensively studied in the context of topics as diverse as preventing/treating human disease (Lin et al, 2023;Paccosi and Proietti-De-Santis, 2023;Sum and Brewer, 2023) to enhancing agricultural production (Feng et al, 2023;Louis et al, 2023;Wang et al, 2023). Here, however, we focus on transgenerational epigenetic inheritance.…”