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Journal of Integrative Agriculture
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Multidimensional effects of low-light stress on growth and development of gmfa9 mutant in soybean

Hui Li1*, Tianshu Li1*, Jinhang Cui1*, Xiaorui Xu1, Xin Chen1, Jingyi Huang1, Jia Song1, Cui Mu1, Bunan Yao1, Jingjie Zhao1, Xinyu Hong1, Mingliang Yang1, Zhenqing Zhao2#, Qingshan Chen1#, Zhaoming Qi1#

1 National Key Laboratory of Smart Farm Technology and System, National Research Center of Soybean Engineering and Technology, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, China

2 College of Electrical Engineering and Information, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, China

 Highlights 

●Revealed that the gmfa9 mutant shows prolonged reproductive development and more distinct morphological changes than wild-type soybean under low-light stress.

●Demonstrated fa9 mutation downregulates fatty acid synthesis-related genes and upregulates photosynthetic light reaction-associated genes, with seeds exhibiting higher protein/sugar contents but lower per-plant total seed weight across light conditions.

●Identified gmfa9 as a valuable genetic resource for breeding high-quality soybean varieties with tailored seed compositions adaptable to low-light environments.

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摘要  

大豆(Glycine max [L.] Merr.)作为一种具有全球重要意义的粮食和经济作物,其产量和品质受多种环境因素影响,其中之一便是弱光胁迫。在先前的研究中,我们已经证明敲除大豆SEIPIN同源基因FA9(其编码的蛋白质参与脂滴形成)会降低种子的含油量并增加蛋白质含量。在本研究中,我们比较了gmfa9敲除突变体(fa9-KO)和野生型(WT)东农50DN50)大豆对低光胁迫的响应。在低光照条件下,fa9-KO的植被指数(GNDVICIGreen)、光谱反射率及叶绿素荧光参数均高于野生型。与野生型大豆相比,fa9-KO在低光照条件下生殖发育周期延长,形态变化更为显著;在所有光照条件下,与野生型相比,突变体大豆种子体积更大,蛋白质和糖含量更高,但每株的种子总重量较低。转录组和RT-qPCR分析表明,FA9基因突变与能够使参与脂肪酸合成和光合作用光反应的多个基因下调。这些发现表明,FA9是培育适应低光环境的高品质大豆品种的重要遗传资源。



Abstract  

The yield and quality of soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merr.), a globally important food and cash crop, are affected by a variety of environmental factors, one of which is low-light stress. In previous work, we demonstrated that knockout of the SEIPIN homolog FA9, whose encoded protein participates in lipid-droplet formation, reduced oil content and increased protein content in seeds. In this study, we compared the responses of gmfa9 knockout mutants (fa9-KO) and wild-type (WT) Dongnong 50 (DN50) soybean to low-light stress. Vegetative indices (GNDVI and CIGreen), spectral reflectance, and chlorophyll-fluorescence parameters were higher in fa9-KO than in the WT under low light. fa9-KO exhibited prolonged reproductive development and more pronounced morphological changes than WT soybean under low-light conditions; under all light conditions, it produced larger seeds with higher protein and sugar contents but had a lower total seed weight per plant. Transcriptome and RT-qPCR analyses demonstrated that FA9 mutation was associated with the downregulation of multiple genes involved in fatty acid synthesis and photosynthetic light reactions. These findings suggest that FA9 is an important genetic resource for breeding high-quality soybean varieties adapted to low-light environments.

Keywords:  soybean      low-light stress       oil and protein contents       photosynthesis       transcriptome  
Online: 27 April 2026  
Fund: 

This work was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (32472108), Heilongjiang Provincial Key Research and Development Program (2025ZX03A01), the Heilongjiang Postdoctoral Science Foundation, China (LBH-Z23011), and the China Agriculture Research System (CARS-04-PS15)..

About author:  #Correspondence Zhaoming Qi, E-mail: qizhaoming1860@126.com; Qingshan Chen, E-mail: qshchen@126.com; Zhenqing Zhao, E-mail: zzq725@126.com *These authors contributed equally to this work.

Cite this article: 

Hui Li, Tianshu Li, Jinhang Cui, Xiaorui Xu, Xin Chen, Jingyi Huang, Jia Song, Cui Mu, Bunan Yao, Jingjie Zhao, Xinyu Hong, Mingliang Yang, Zhenqing Zhao, Qingshan Chen, Zhaoming Qi. 2026. Multidimensional effects of low-light stress on growth and development of gmfa9 mutant in soybean. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, Doi:10.1016/j.jia.2026.04.037

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