GmNAC3 acts as a key regulator in soybean against drought stress

The NAC (NAM, ATAF and CUC) family is one of the largest transcription factor (TF) families in plant that are involved in the regulatory mechanisms of plant growth and development as well as responses to abiotic stresses. However, the underlying molecular mechanism of drought-responsive NAC family members in soybean still remains inexplicit. In this study, a total of 179 GmNAC genes were identified in the soybean genome. We discovered that the majority of GmNAC members have more than three exons and share a gene and motif structure that is mostly conserved at the N-terminus. Phylogenetic analysis suggested that soybean GmNAC proteins were divided into 10 separate groups. The analysis of cis-elements highlighted the potential role of GmNAC genes in various hormonal and defense related activities. In addition, most of the GmNAC genes showed notable expression in roots and leaves, suggesting their likely role in abiotic stress adaptation. The overexpression of GmNAC3-OE in Arabidopsis increased tolerance to drought stress. Similarly, the GmNAC3-OE plants displayed better survival rates, root length and antioxidant activities. Enhanced expression of stress specific genes in GmNAC3-OE was also recorded. Our findings revealed the potential role of GmNAC3 gene role in regulating soybean response to drought stress and could be used as a potential marker to generate stress resilient plants.