Identification and Bioinformatic Analysis of the GmDOG1-Like Family in Soybean and Investigation of Their Expression in Response to Gibberellic Acid and Abscisic Acid

Exploring the metabolic basis of growth/defense trade-offs in complex environments with Nicotiana attenuata plants cosilenced in NaMYC2a/b expression

In response to challenges from herbivores and competitors, plants use fitness-limiting resources to produce (auto)toxic defenses. Jasmonate signaling, mediated by MYC2 transcription factors (TF), is thought to reconfigure metabolism to minimize these formal costs of defense and optimize fitness in complex environments. To study the context-dependence of this metabolic reconfiguration, we cosilenced NaMYC2a/b by RNAi in Nicotiana attenuata and phenotyped plants in the field and increasingly realistic glasshouse setups with competitors and mobile herbivores. NaMYC2a/b had normal phytohormonal responses, and higher growth and fitness in herbivore-reduced environments, but were devastated in high herbivore-load environments in the field due to diminished accumulations of specialized metabolites. In setups with competitors and mobile herbivores, irMYC2a/b plants had lower fitness than empty vector (EV) in single-genotype setups but increased fitness in mixed-genotype setups. Correlational analyses of metabolic, resistance, and growth traits revealed the expected defense/growth associations for most sectors of primary and specialized metabolism. Notable exceptions were some HGL-DTGs and phenolamides that differed between single-genotype and mixed-genotype setups, consistent with expectations of a blurred functional trichotomy of metabolites. MYC2 TFs mediate the reconfiguration of primary and specialized metabolic sectors to allow plants to optimize their fitness in complex environments.

Current overview on the genetic basis of key genes involved in soybean domestication

Modern crops were created through the domestication and genetic introgression of wild relatives and adaptive differentiation in new environments. Identifying the domestication-related genes and unveiling their molecular diversity provide clues for understanding how the domesticated variants were selected by ancient people, elucidating how and where these crops were domesticated. Molecular genetics and genomics have explored some domestication-related genes in soybean (Glycine max). Here, we summarize recent studies about the quantitative trait locus (QTL) and genes involved in the domestication traits, introduce the functions of these genes, clarify which alleles of domesticated genes were selected during domestication. A deeper understanding of soybean domestication could help to break the bottleneck of modern breeding by highlighting unused genetic diversity not selected in the original domestication process, as well as highlighting promising new avenues for the identification and research of important agronomic traits among different crop species.