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Open Access

ARTICLE

Systematic Analysis of the FLA Gene Family and Expression Profiling in Soybean Varieties with Varying Stem Thickness

Mazin Ahmed Abdelraouf1,2, Xiaoqi He1, Hind Abdelmonim Elsanosi1,3, Tiantian Zhu1, Jinghui Shi1, Ullah Habib1, Li Song1,*
1 Joint International Research Laboratory of Agriculture and Agri-Product Safety, The Ministry of Education of China, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China
2 Department of Agronomy, College of Agricultural Studies, Sudan University of Science and Technology, Khartoum, Sudan
3 Faculty of Agriculture, University of Khartoum, Khartoum, Sudan
* Corresponding Author: Li Song. Email: email
(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Advances in Crop Genetics and Breeding for Sustainable Agriculture)

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany https://doi.org/10.32604/phyton.2026.079749

Received 27 January 2026; Accepted 09 May 2026; Published online 26 May 2026

Abstract

The fasciclin-like arabinogalactan protein (FLA) family is involved in important plant wall formation and mechanical strength of the stems, and has never been systematically characterized in soybean (Glycine max), a huge crop in which stem lodging has been the cause of significant losses in yield. Here, we found that the soybean genome has 64 GmFLA genes, or a considerable increase over Arabidopsis, rice, and poplar, and these genes were grouped into three phylogenetic clusters (A, B, and C) that have varied domain structures. Evolutionary studies showed that duplication of segments was the most common cause of family expansion, with all the duplicated pairs of genes undergoing robust purifying selection. Tissue-specific expression profiling revealed that about a third of GmFLA genes is specifically expressed in stems. In nine stem-preferential genes assayed in six soybean varieties with varying stem thickness, the five stem-thick (diameter > 11 mm) varieties had a consistently lower expression of the five genes, GmFLA62, GmFLA43, GmFLA50, GmFLA07, and GmFLA56, than the thick-stem. These results are the first genomic resource of the GmFLA gene family in soybean and also determine certain candidate genes, which are different with the stem thickness, an important determinant of lodging. The findings of this study reveal a novel relationship between FLA gene expression and stem architecture, and suggest both as prospective targets for genetic improvement of lodging resistance and yield stability in soybean.

Keywords

Soybean; FAS domain; AGP regions; GPI anchor signal; tissue-specific expression

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