Chinese researchers develop large-scale integrated transcriptomic atlas for soybeans

BEIJING -- Chinese researchers have constructed a comprehensive integrated transcriptomic atlas for soybeans, the first spatio-temporal map of the whole-life organ development of the domestic soybean, according to the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) on Thursday.

Molecular design breeding can effectively accelerate the soybean breeding process. However, the complex mechanisms of organ development in soybeans have long proved difficult challenges for scientists to effectively shed light on.

Regarding each organ of the soybean as a precisely operating "factory," genes run like "workers" on assembly lines, while the transcriptomic atlas acts as the factory's monitoring system.

In previous research, scientists could usually only observe the overall output of this "factory." However, new technology can now help them track the condition of each "worker."

Based on the bulk RNA-seq data from 314 whole-organ samples, the researchers from the CAS and the Chinese Society for Plant Biology precisely identified the developmental stages of organs and the characteristic genes of key organs.

Subsequently, they utilized single-nucleus RNA sequencing (snRNA-seq) to capture the cellular expression maps of five major functional organs namely roots, root nodules, the shoot apical, leaves and stems.

Through the integration of multidimensional technologies, they achieved 3D visualization of gene expression in soybean organs -- with researchers calling this a "map" for the soybean.

Elucidating the genetic regulatory networks underlying soybean organ development is critical for breeding elite and resilient varieties to ensure an increase in soybean production in the event of changing climates, according to the research article published in the journal Molecular Plant.

An integrated transcriptomic atlas that leverages multiple types of transcriptomic data can facilitate the characterization of temporal-spatial expression patterns of most organ development-related genes and thereby help researchers understand organ developmental processes, the article noted.