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Article

Genome-Wide Analysis of Cellulose Synthase Superfamily and Roles of GmCESA1 in Regulating Drought Tolerance and Growth of Soybean

by
Chunhua Wu
,
Jie Chen
,
Jiazhou He
,
Xiujie Zhang
,
Shanhui Zheng
,
Yongpeng Pan
,
Ting Jin
and
Yan Li
*
State Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics & Germplasm Enhancement and Utilization, Zhongshan Biological Breeding Laboratory, National Center for Soybean Improvement, National Innovation Platform for Soybean Breeding and Industry-Education Integration, Key Laboratory for Biology and Genetic Improvement of Soybean (General, Ministry of Agriculture), Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center for Modern Crop Production, Sanya Institute, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Plants 2026, 15(1), 34; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants15010034
Submission received: 23 November 2025 / Revised: 12 December 2025 / Accepted: 15 December 2025 / Published: 22 December 2025
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bean Breeding)
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Abstract

The cellulose synthase (CS) superfamily, comprising the cellulose synthase (CESA) and cellulose synthase-like (CSL) families, plays crucial roles in plant response to abiotic stresses, growth and development. However, there are few reports on the biological functions of CSs in soybean. In this study, 80 soybean CS members were identified and classified into seven subfamilies. Collinearity analyses revealed that the segmental duplication is likely the primary driver for the expansion of CS superfamily in soybean. The abundant stress-responsive and growth-related cis-acting elements in the promoter regions of soybean CS genes suggest their potential functions. Notably, GmCESA1 exhibited significantly higher expression levels in drought-tolerant soybean under drought stress. Soybean plants with lower GmCESA1 expression via virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS-GmCESA1) were less drought-tolerant than the control plants (VIGS-EV), showing reduced relative water content and dry weight than VIGS-EV under drought stress. Furthermore, VIGS-GmCESA1 soybean plants displayed reduced plant height under both well-watered and drought-stressed conditions. Our findings highlight that GmCESA1 has pleiotropic functions in regulating both drought tolerance and growth in soybean, contributing to our knowledge on CS and providing a valuable gene to breed drought-tolerant soybean in the future.
Keywords: soybean; cellulose synthase; GmCESA1; drought; plant growth soybean; cellulose synthase; GmCESA1; drought; plant growth

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MDPI and ACS Style

Wu, C.; Chen, J.; He, J.; Zhang, X.; Zheng, S.; Pan, Y.; Jin, T.; Li, Y. Genome-Wide Analysis of Cellulose Synthase Superfamily and Roles of GmCESA1 in Regulating Drought Tolerance and Growth of Soybean. Plants 2026, 15, 34. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants15010034

AMA Style

Wu C, Chen J, He J, Zhang X, Zheng S, Pan Y, Jin T, Li Y. Genome-Wide Analysis of Cellulose Synthase Superfamily and Roles of GmCESA1 in Regulating Drought Tolerance and Growth of Soybean. Plants. 2026; 15(1):34. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants15010034

Chicago/Turabian Style

Wu, Chunhua, Jie Chen, Jiazhou He, Xiujie Zhang, Shanhui Zheng, Yongpeng Pan, Ting Jin, and Yan Li. 2026. "Genome-Wide Analysis of Cellulose Synthase Superfamily and Roles of GmCESA1 in Regulating Drought Tolerance and Growth of Soybean" Plants 15, no. 1: 34. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants15010034

APA Style

Wu, C., Chen, J., He, J., Zhang, X., Zheng, S., Pan, Y., Jin, T., & Li, Y. (2026). Genome-Wide Analysis of Cellulose Synthase Superfamily and Roles of GmCESA1 in Regulating Drought Tolerance and Growth of Soybean. Plants, 15(1), 34. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants15010034

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