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NACs are plant-specific transcription factors involved in controlling plant development, stress responses, and senescence. As senescence-associated genes (SAGs), NACs integrate age- and stress-dependent pathways that converge to programmed cell death (PCD). In Arabidopsis, NAC-SAGs belong to well-characterized regulatory networks, poorly understood in soybean. Here, we interrogated the soybean genome and provided a comprehensive analysis of senescence-associated Glycine max (Gm) NACs. To functionally examine GmNAC-SAGs, we selected GmNAC065, a putative ortholog of Arabidopsis ANAC083/VNI2 SAG, and the cell death-promoting GmNAC085, an ANAC072 SAG putative ortholog, for analyses. Expression analysis of GmNAC065 and GmNAC085 in soybean demonstrated (i) these cell death-promoting GmNACs display contrasting expression changes during age- and stress-induced senescence; (ii) they are co-expressed with functionally different gene sets involved in stress and PCD, and (iii) are differentially induced by PCD inducers. Furthermore, we demonstrated GmNAC065 expression delays senescence in Arabidopsis, a phenotype associated with enhanced oxidative performance under multiple stresses, higher chlorophyll, carotenoid and sugar contents, and lower stress-induced PCD compared to wild-type. In contrast, GmNAC085 accelerated stress-induced senescence, causing enhanced chlorophyll loss, ROS accumulation and cell death, decreased antioxidative system expression and activity. Accordingly, GmNAC065 and GmNAC085 targeted functionally contrasting sets of downstream AtSAGs, further indicating that GmNAC85 and GmNAC065 regulators function inversely in developmental and environmental PCD.

The first successful attempt to generate genetically modified plants expressing a transgene was preformed via T-DNA-based gene transfer employing Agrobacterium tumefaciens- mediated genetic transformation. Limitations over infectivity and in vitro tissue culture led to the development of other DNA delivery systems, such as the biolistic method. Herein, we developed a new one-step protocol for transgenic soybean recovery by combining the two different transformation methods. This protocol comprises the following steps: agrobacterial preparation, seed sterilization, soybean embryo excision, shoot-cell injury by tungsten-microparticle bombardment, A. tumefaciens -mediated transformation, embryo co-cultivation in vitro , and selection of transgenic plants. This protocol can be completed in approximately 30–40 weeks. The average efficiency of producing transgenic soybean germlines using this protocol was 9.84%, similar to other previously described protocols. However, we introduced a more cost-effective, more straightforward and shorter methodology for transgenic plant recovery, which allows co-cultivation and plant regeneration in a single step, decreasing the chances of contamination and making the manipulation easier. Finally, as a hallmark, our protocol does not generate plant chimeras, in contrast to traditional plant regeneration protocols applied in other Agrobacterium -mediated transformation methods. Therefore, this new approach of plant transformation is applicable for studies of gene function and the production of transgenic cultivars carrying different traits for precision-breeding programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]