Artificial selection of two antagonistic E3 ubiquitin ligases finetunes soybean photoperiod adaptation and grain yield

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Wang, Fan; Liu, Shuangrong; Li, Haiyang; Fang, Chao; Fang, Sijia; Wang, Jianhao; Li, Shichen; Liu, Huan; Du, Haiping; Wang, Lingshuang; Pei, Xinxin; Su, Bohong; Sun, Zhihui; Li, Quan; Dong, Lidong; Cheng, Qun; Zhao, Xiaohui; Liu, Baohui; Lu, Sijia; Kong, Fanjiang; Lin, Xiaoya
• 署名单位: Guangzhou University; Chinese Academy of Sciences; Northeast Institute of Geography & Agroecology, CAS
• 刊物名称: PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0027-11110
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2321473121
• 发表日期: 2024-11-05
• 关键词: map-based cloning; maturity locus; gigantea; gene; constans; fkf1; repressor; zeitlupe

摘要

The precise control of flowering time is of utmost importance for crop adaptation to varying environmental conditions and consequently determines grain yield and plant fitness. Soybean E2 , the homolog of Arabidopsis GIGANTEA, is a major locus contributing to high- latitude adaptation and is involved in photoperiod sensitivity. However, due to major effects of E2 , additional genetic loci controlling soybean flowering and adaptation have historically been masked and difficult to identify. Here, by eliminating the effect of E2 , we identified a Tof9 locus controlling flowering in which ZEITLUPE2 ( ZTL2 ) is the causal gene. ZTL2 encodes an F- box E3 ubiquitin ligase with homology to Arabidopsis ZEITLUPE and is shown to play a key role in the soybean photoperiodic flowering pathway. ZTL2 physically interacts with E2 to mediate its degradation. Intriguingly, ZTL2 and FKF1, both belong to the F- box- type E3 ubiquitin- ligase family, exhibit opposite roles in regulating soybean flowering. ZTL2 degrades E2, leading to early flowering, while FKF1 stabilizes E2, resulting in delayed flowering. The balance between ZTL2- mediated degradation and FKF1- mediated stabilization enables soybeans to finetune flowering time and maximize grain yield. Field- grown ztl2 mutants are taller, flower late, and have increased yield parameters. ZTL2 and FKF1b bear contrasting artificial- selection patterns to adapt to different latitudes. This antagonistic regulation is crucial for soybean adaptation to diverse ecological settings and allows plants to fine- tune their flowering time in response to photoperiod and latitudinal changes.