J Integr Plant Biol. ›› 2023, Vol. 65 ›› Issue (4): 1026-1040.DOI: 10.1111/jipb.13405

• Photosynthesis and Crop Physiology • Previous Articles     Next Articles

GmFtsH25 overexpression increases soybean seed yield by enhancing photosynthesis and photosynthates

Li Wang1†, Yuming Yang1,2†, Zhongyi Yang1, Wenlong Li1, Dezhou Hu1, Huilian Yu1, Xiao Li1, Hao Cheng1, Guizhen Kan1, Zhijun Che3, Dan Zhang2, Hengyou Zhang4, Hui Wang1, Fang Huang1* and Deyue Yu1*   

  1. 1. National Center for Soybean Improvement, National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Germplasm Enhancement, Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center for Modern Crop Production, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China;
    2. Collaborative Innovation Center of Henan Grain Crops, College of Agronomy, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450046, China;
    3. School of Agriculture, Ningxia University, Yinchuan 750021, China;
    4. Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Key Laboratory of Soybean Molecular Design Breeding, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Harbin 150081, China
    These authors contributed equally to this work.
    *Correspondences: Fang Huang (fhuang@njau.edu.cn); Deyue Yu (dyyu@njau.edu.cn, Dr. Yu is fully responsible for the distribution of all materials associated with this article)
  • Received:2022-08-12 Accepted:2022-11-08 Online:2022-11-09 Published:2023-04-01

Abstract: Increasing plant photosynthetic capacity is a promising approach to boost yields, but it is particularly challenging in C3 crops, such as soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.). Here, we identified GmFtsH25, encoding a member of the filamentation temperature‐sensitive protein H protease family, as a major gene involved in soybean photosynthesis, using linkage mapping and a genome‐wide association study. Overexpressing GmFtsH25 resulted in more grana thylakoid stacks in chloroplasts and increased photosynthetic efficiency and starch content, while knocking out GmFtsH25 produced the opposite phenotypes. GmFtsH25 interacted with photosystem I light harvesting complex 2 (GmLHCa2), and this interaction may contribute to the observed enhanced photosynthesis. GmFtsH25 overexpression lines had superior yield traits, such as yield per plant, compared to the wild type and knockout lines. Additionally, we identified an elite haplotype of GmFtsH25, generated by natural mutations, which appears to have been selected during soybean domestication. Our study sheds light on the molecular mechanism by which GmFtsH25 modulates photosynthesis and provides a promising strategy for improving the yields of soybean and other crops.

Key words: chloroplast, FtsH, photosynthesis, QTL, seed yield, soybean

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