Downregulation of GmDIS1 improves drought and heat stress tolerance in soybean

Soybean (Glycine max), is an important oilseed crop that plays a vital role in ensuring global food security. However, it is susceptible to multiple abiotic stresses that can reduce yield. The ubiquitination-proteasome pathway is a crucial regulatory mechanism that controls a broad range of processes in plants. We investigated the function of Glycine max drought-induced SINA (GmDIS1), an E3 ligase gene, in soybean abiotic stress tolerance using Agrobacterium-mediated transformation to develop soybean GmDIS1-RNAi transgenic lines. GmDIS1 was significantly induced under drought and heat stress. Several physiological traits revealed resilience of GmDIS1-RNAi lines under drought and heat stress. The functions of stress-related genes, such as AOS and GmPAL were investigated to dissect the pathways that contribute to drought and heat tolerance in GmDIS1-RNAi lines. The results suggest that decreasing expression of GmDIS1 can enhance soybean tolerance to drought and heat, and also provide a significant target for developing more drought- and heat-tolerant soybean varieties and other crops.