Overexpression of soybean flavonoid 3′-hydroxylase enhances plant salt tolerance by promoting ascorbic acid biosynthesis

作者：Jianfei Wu, Xiaokun Wang, Jiawei Xu, Tongtong Li, Guangyao Shan, Li Zhang, Tongdi Yan, Xuejiao Song, Yuxiao Sun, Huihui� Guo, Fanchang Zeng · 发表于：Journal of Advanced Research · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1016/j.jare.2025.05.009 · 被引用次数：14 · 研究领域：Plant responses to water stress、Plant Stress Responses and Tolerance、Plant Gene Expression Analysis

INTRODUCTION: Salt stress is a major cause of crop loss. Soybean (Glycine max), a globally vital legume crop, faces mounting yield constraints due to soil salinization. It is known that the flavonoid biosynthesis pathway involving flavonoid 3'-hydroxylase (F3'H) plays an important role in salt tolerance. However, the precise molecular basis of F3'H-mediated salt tolerance remains inadequately characterized. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to elucidate the function and explore the pleiotropic molecular basis of F3'H protein in soybean salt tolerance. Innovation on elite new crop varieties facilitates breeding and production applications on salt tolerance. METHODS: We employed CRISPR/Cas9-mediated knockout and Agrobacterium-based overexpression to generate GmF3'H allelic variants and ectopic expression in soybeans. Sanger sequencing and quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) were used to confirm the specificity of gene editing and quantify expression levels in overexpression transgenic plants, respectively. As well as Subcellular localization analysis, Yeast two-hybrid (Y2H) assay, LUC activity assay and plant physiological measurements were carried out to elucidate the F3'H-mediated salt tolerance molecular basis in plants. RESULTS: In this study, we identified the flavonoid 3' hydroxylase gene (GmF3'H) in soybeans, which as a master regulator of salt stress adaptation during seed germination and seedling stages in both soybean and Arabidopsis thal...