GmRVE8a , a circadian clock‐associated gene, negatively regulates flowering and maturity in soybean

SUMMARY

Precise regulation of flowering time and maturity is critical for achieving high and stable soybean yields, and the circadian clock plays a central role in coordinating these developmental transitions. Soybean is a typical short‐day crop with a pronounced photoperiodic response; however, the molecular mechanisms linking circadian regulation to photoperiod‐dependent flowering and maturity remain incompletely understood. Here, we integrated genome‐wide association analysis with deep learning approaches using 257 soybean germplasm accessions spanning 14 maturity groups and identified GmRVE8a , a homolog of the Arabidopsis circadian clock gene REVEILLE , as a strong candidate locus associated with soybean maturity across two field environments. Haplotype analysis demonstrated that accessions carrying the GmRVE8a ^H1 haplotype consistently flowered and matured significantly later than those carrying GmRVE8a ^H2 . Functional validation revealed that knockout of GmRVE8a markedly accelerated flowering and maturity, whereas overexpression of GmRVE8a significantly delayed both processes. qRT‐PCR assays further suggested that GmRVE8a may repress flowering and delay maturity by promoting the expression of GmFT4 , a flowering‐inhibitory member of the FT family, and is unlikely to act by directly regulating E1 expression. Collectively, our findings suggest GmRVE8a as a circadian clock‐associated negative regulator of soybean flowering and maturity, and highlight it as a promising candidate for molecular breeding aimed at improving adaptation to diverse photoperiodic environments.