Comparative Transcriptomic Analysis Reveals Divergent Stress Adaptation Strategies in Gamma-Induced Soybean Mutants

Gümüş T., Meriç S., Ayan A., Özden B., Emlik S., Çelik Ö., ...Daha Fazla

PLANTS, cilt.15, sa.1241, ss.1-29, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 15 Sayı: 1241
  • Basım Tarihi: 2026
  • Dergi Adı: PLANTS
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Scopus, Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), BIOSIS, Directory of Open Access Journals
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.1-29
  • İstanbul Kültür Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

Abstract

Soybean (Glycine max L.) is an important agricultural crop for human food and animal feed.

Soybean yield is severely constrained by abiotic stresses such as salinity and drought, which

affect large proportions of arable and irrigated lands worldwide. This necessitates the

development of new soybean varieties tolerant to these stress factors. Mutation breeding

is an effective approach to improve the stress tolerance of plants due to increased genetic

diversity. In this study, two gamma-induced salinity and drought-tolerant soybean mutants

(SM1 and SM3-1) were compared with the parental line S04-05 using GO and KEGG

pathway enrichment analyses. GO enrichment analyses revealed extensive differential

gene expression in the mutant lines under stress conditions, with significant enrichment of

pathways related to photosynthesis, hormone signaling, carbohydrate metabolism, and

flavonoid and isoflavonoid biosynthesis. Genotype-specific analyses indicated that the

SM3-1 mutant exhibited a dynamic regulatory response associated with maintaining the

photosynthetic apparatus and chloroplast homeostasis under stress, whereas the SM1

mutant showed an adaptation strategy based on metabolite-mediated osmotic adjustment

and ROS scavenging. Compared to the parental variety S04-05, the mutants showed distinct

metabolic regulation in phenylpropanoid/isoflavone metabolism, with upregulation of

many isoflavone biosynthesis genes under salinity, drought, and untreated conditions,

indicating a key and sustained role of this pathway in stress tolerance. Most SNPs identified

in the isoflavone biosynthesis pathway consist of moderate-impact and modifier variations.

These findings suggest that gamma mutagenesis and subsequent selection processes allow

for the development of novel genetic variants that operate through different physiological

and metabolic mechanisms but exhibit similar levels of tolerance. In this respect, the study

reveals that mutation breeding is a potentially sustainable and effective breeding strategy

for increasing abiotic stress tolerance in soybeans.