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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Crop and Product Physiology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2024.1407544
This article is part of the Research Topic Novel Ways and Methodologies to Improve Crop Yield View all 20 articles

Soybean Response to Low Glyphosate Doses: Insights into the Transcriptome, Metabolic Pathways and Biomass Production

Provisionally accepted
Fábio H. Krenchinski Fábio H. Krenchinski 1Ricardo Alcántara-de la Cruz Ricardo Alcántara-de la Cruz 2*Danilo M. Rodrigues Danilo M. Rodrigues 1Victor J. Cesco Victor J. Cesco 1Renato C. Nunes Renato C. Nunes 1Edivaldo D. Velini Edivaldo D. Velini 1Caio A. Carbonari Caio A. Carbonari 1
  • 1 São Paulo State University, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
  • 2 Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, Brazil

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Soybean cultivars show a beneficial response to low doses of glyphosate, leading to increased growth, biomass, and improved agronomic traits. However, the genetic, biochemical, and metabolic mechanisms underlying this positive response, known as glyphosate hormesis, are not fully understood. This study aimed to identify pathways and differentially expressed genes (DEGs) affected by glyphosate hormesis, along with their association with lignin and phosphorus (P) content, in glyphosate-resistant soybean cultivars (RR and RR2) compared to a non-resistant conventional cultivar (NR). Additionally, the study evaluated the impact of these treatments on electron transport rate (ETR), components of the shikimic acid pathway, and biomass accumulation. Over 90% alignment of reads corresponded to the G. max reference genome. Within the 31,515 genes identified, 587 were DEGs with differences among cultivars and glyphosate doses. The DEGs enriched by glyphosate application in the NR cultivar were associated with flavone metabolism and auxin signaling, indicating impacts on phenylalanine-derived metabolites and developmental processes. In contrast, the RR cultivar showed enrichment in pathways related to stress response and fatty acid metabolism, while the RR2 cultivar exhibited enrichment in various metabolic pathways, notably lignin catabolism and auxin activity. Glyphosate treatments influenced electron transport rate (ETR), lignin, and P content, as well as components of the shikimic acid pathway and amino acid contents in soybean plants, with differential responses observed among cultivars and glyphosate doses. Additionally, the application of glyphosate consistently resulted in increased dry biomass production across cultivars. These findings provide insights into the molecular and physiological reactions of soybean cultivars to glyphosate hormesis, highlighting intricate regulatory mechanisms and cultivar-specific responses.

    Keywords: aromatic amino acids, Differentially expressed genes, Electron transport rate, Glycine max (L.) merrill, GO enrichment, Lignin content, Shikimic acid pathway

    Received: 26 Mar 2024; Accepted: 26 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Krenchinski, Alcántara-de la Cruz, Rodrigues, Cesco, Nunes, Velini and Carbonari. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Ricardo Alcántara-de la Cruz, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, Brazil

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