Unveiling GmCS1 Promote Branch Development by Regulating Plant Hormones in Soybean

Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) was originally domesticated in China and is a kind of significant leguminous crop, which can fix atmospheric nitrogen to bioavailable nitrogen. Ceramides, intermediates of sphingolipids, are crucial structural components in membrane formation and also function as signaling molecules, which play crucial roles in plant development and defense. Although Arabidopsis ceramide synthase genes AtLOH1 and AtLOH3 overexpression plants increased biomass compared to wild-type, its potential mechanism in plant growth was still unclear. A soybean ceramide synthase gene (GmCS1) has high expression level in the stem, and the protein is localized in the endoplasmic reticulum. Overexpression of GmCS1 promotes soybeans lateral branch development for effective branch formation, so as significantly increasing the number of lateral branches and pods. Using transcriptomic profiles, we found GmCS1 overexpression lines displayed the upregulation of plant hormone signal transduction pathway gene expression in developmental branches. Actually, Indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) induces bud outgrowth rather than initiation according to the determination of endogenous IAA andcytokinin (CKs) in soybean lateral branches. Collectively, these results suggest that GmCS1 may be a functional ceramide synthase gene in soybean, with the GmCS1-mediated regulatory network playing a crucial role in controlling branch development by IAA and CKs homeostasis. Understanding the ceramides regulation mechanisms by GmCS1 overexpression lines is essential for Ideal Soybean Architecture (ISA) innovation.