High Temperature and Microbiome Conditions Affect Gene Expression in Soybean

Heat stress is increasingly a problem in global agriculture production, both in increasing occurrences and extended durations. Understanding the molecular mechanisms of the soybean heat stress response is essential for breeding heat tolerant soybeans. Plant associated microbiomes are known to mitigate adverse effects from abiotic stress. Soybean heat stress studies have primarily focused on response to short periods of stress, and how soybean responds on a transcriptional level to a soil microbiome is poorly understood. We hypothesize a soil microbiome may help soybean survive long-term heat stress exposure. We used RNA-seq to measure the transcriptional responses in four soybean exposed to two temperature regimes and grown in two soil microbiome conditions. We identified unique responses to temperature based on the soil microbiome conditions and to the different genotypes, with fewer changes across genotypes in response to a soil microbiome. Our findings provide insights on the interaction of soil microbiome with heat stress response in soybean and identify gene targets to further study the soybean heat stress tolerance with applications to develop improved varieties.