Haiying Wang , Lei Wang , Mengdi Yang , Quanrui Song , Yue Guo , Haibo Hong

College of Agronomy, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang, 110866, Liaoning, China
Author    Correspondence author
Molecular Plant Breeding, 2025, Vol. 16, No. 1   doi: 10.5376/mpb.2025.16.0007
Received: 03 Jan., 2025    Accepted: 15 Apr., 2025    Published: 23 Feb., 2025

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Wang H.Y., Wang L., Yang M.D., Song Q.R., Guo Y., and Hong H.B., 2025, Unveiling drought tolerance mechanisms in soybean seed germination: new insights from physiological and molecular perspectives, Molecular Plant Breeding, 16(1): 63-72 (doi: 10.5376/mpb.2025.16.0007)

Drought tolerance in soybeans is crucial for ensuring sustainable crop production under increasing climate variability. This study aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the physiological and molecular mechanisms underlying drought tolerance during soybean seed germination, as well as integrative approaches and practical applications in breeding strategies. Physiological mechanisms include osmotic adjustment through proline and soluble sugar accumulation, water uptake and retention mediated by seed coat properties and aquaporins, and antioxidant defense systems involving both enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants. On a molecular level, the study explores gene expression regulation by drought-responsive transcription factors, stress-inducible promoters and genes, signal transduction pathways including ABA-dependent and independent pathways, and genomic and proteomic approaches to identify drought-responsive genes and proteins. Integrative approaches such as systems biology and gene editing tools like CRISPR/Cas9 are discussed for their potential in enhancing drought tolerance. Practical applications focus on breeding strategies, highlighting marker-assisted selection and comparing conventional breeding with biotechnological methods. The study also addresses challenges and opportunities in developing drought-resilient soybean varieties, considering environmental variability, field conditions, and socioeconomic factors. The findings underscore the importance of a multi-faceted approach to improve drought tolerance in soybeans, with implications for global food security.

Drought tolerance; Soybean seed germination; Physiological mechanisms; Molecular mechanisms; Breeding strategies