Salt stress and flowering time are major factors limiting geographic adaptation and yield pro-ductivity in soybean (Glycine max). Although improving crop salt tolerance and latitude adap-tation are essential for efficient agricultural pro-duction, whether and how these two traits are integrated remains largely unknown. Here, we used a genome-wide association study to iden-tify a major salt-tolerance locus controlled by E2, an ortholog of Arabidopsis thaliana GIGANTEA (GI). Loss of E2 function not only shortened flowering time and maturity, but also enhanced salt-tolerance in soybean. E2 delayed soybean flowering by enhancing the transcription of the core flowering suppressor gene E1, thereby re-pressing Flowering Locus T (FT) expression. An E2 knockout mutant e2CR displayed reduced ac-cumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) during the response to salt stress by releasing peroxidase, which functions in ROS scavenging to avoid cytotoxicity. Evolutionary and pop-ulation genetic analyses also suggested that loss-of-function e2 alleles have been artificially selected during breeding for soybean adaptation to high-latitude regions with greater salt stress. Our findings provide insights into the coupled selection for adaptation to both latitude and salt stress in soybean; and offer an ideal target for molecular breeding of early-maturing and salt-tolerant cultivars.

Lidong Dong;Zhihong Hou;Haiyang Li;Zhaobo Li;Chao Fang;Lingping Kong;Yongli Li;Hao Du;Tai Li;Lingshuang Wang;Milan He;Xiaohui Zhao;Qun Cheng;Fanjiang Kong;Baohui Liu

Guangdong Key Laboratory of Plant Adaptation and Molecular Design,Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Editing,Innovative Center of Molecular Genetics and Evolution,School of Life Sciences,Guangzhou University,Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center,Guangzhou 510006,China;College of Agriculture,Heilongjiang Bayi Agricultural University,Daqing 510062,China;National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Germplasm Enhancement,National Center for Soybean Improvement,Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center for Modern Crop Production,Nanjing Agricultural University,Nanjing 210095,China;College of Agriculture,Jilin Agricultural Science and Technology University,Jilin 132101,China;The Innovative Academy of Seed Design,Key Laboratory of Soybean Molecular Design Breeding,Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Harbin 150081,China

植物学报（英文版）

[1]Lidong Dong;Zhihong Hou;Haiyang Li;Zhaobo Li;Chao Fang;Lingping Kong;Yongli Li;Hao Du;Tai Li;Lingshuang Wang;Milan He;Xiaohui Zhao;Qun Cheng;Fanjiang Kong;Baohui Liu-.Agronomical selection on loss-of-function of GIGANTEA simultaneously facilitates soybean salt tolerance and early maturity)[J].植物学报（英文版）,2022(10):1866-1882

Agronomical,GIGANTEA,e2CR

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