High-Temperature Conditions Promote Soybean Flowering through the Transcriptional Reprograming of Flowering Genes in the Photoperiod Pathway

• Published in: International journal of molecular sciences Vol. 22; no. 3; p. 1314
• Main Authors: No, Dong Hyeon, Baek, Dongwon, Lee, Su Hyeon, Cheong, Mi Sun, Chun, Hyun Jin, Park, Mi Suk, Cho, Hyun Min, Jin, Byung Jun, Lim, Lack Hyeon, Lee, Yong Bok, Shim, Sang In, Chung, Jong-Il, Kim, Min Chul
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI 28.01.2021; MDPI AG
• Subjects: carbon dioxide; Communication; flowering time; Flowers - genetics; Flowers - growth & development; gene expression; Gene Expression Profiling - methods; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; Global Warming; Glycine max - genetics; Glycine max - growth & development; high temperature; Hot Temperature; Photoperiod; Plant Proteins - genetics; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; soybean; Stress, Physiological; soybean; carbon dioxide; flowering time; gene expression; high temperature
• ISSN: 1422-0067; 1661-6596; 1422-0067
• DOI: 10.3390/ijms22031314

Global warming has an impact on crop growth and development. Flowering time is particularly sensitive to environmental factors such as day length and temperature. In this study, we investigated the effects of global warming on flowering using an open-top Climatron chamber, which has a higher temperature and CO concentration than in the field. Two different soybean cultivars, Williams 82 and IT153414, which exhibited different flowering times, were promoted flowering in the open-top Climatron chamber than in the field. We more specifically examined the expression patterns of soybean flowering genes on the molecular level under high-temperature conditions. The elevated temperature induced the expression of soybean floral activators, and as well as a set of genes. In contrast, it suppressed floral repressors, and homologs. Moreover, high-temperature conditions affected the expression of these flowering genes in a day length-independent manner. Taken together, our data suggest that soybean plants properly respond and adapt to changing environments by modulating the expression of a set of flowering genes in the photoperiod pathway for the successful production of seeds and offspring.