Novel Seed Size: A Novel Seed-Developing Gene in Glycine max.

Mingxia Zhang, Rui Dong, Penghui Huang, Mingyang Lu, Xianzhong Feng, Yongfu Fu, Xiaomei Zhang

International journal of molecular sciences 2023 Feb 20

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Soybean-seed development is controlled in multiple ways, as in many known regulating genes. Here, we identify a novel gene, Novel Seed Size (NSS), involved in seed development, by analyzing a T-DNA mutant (S006). The S006 mutant is a random mutant of the GmFTL4pro:GUS transgenic line, with phenotypes with small and brown seed coats. An analysis of the metabolomics and transcriptome combined with RT-qPCR in the S006 seeds revealed that the brown coat may result from the increased expression of chalcone synthase 7/8 genes, while the down-regulated expression of NSS leads to small seed size. The seed phenotypes and a microscopic observation of the seed-coat integument cells in a CRISPR/Cas9-edited mutant nss1 confirmed that the NSS gene conferred small phenotypes of the S006 seeds. As mentioned in an annotation on the Phytozome website, NSS encodes a potential DNA helicase RuvA subunit, and no such genes were previously reported to be involved in seed development. Therefore, we identify a novel gene in a new pathway controlling seed development in soybeans.

Citation

Mingxia Zhang, Rui Dong, Penghui Huang, Mingyang Lu, Xianzhong Feng, Yongfu Fu, Xiaomei Zhang. Novel Seed Size: A Novel Seed-Developing Gene in Glycine max. International journal of molecular sciences. 2023 Feb 20;24(4)