The impact of water deficit and heat stress combination on the molecular response, physiology and seed production of soybean

A combination of drought and heat stress, occurring at the vegetative or reproductive growth phase of many different crops, can have a devastating impact on yield. In soybean ( Glycine max ), a considerable effort has been made to develop genotypes with enhanced yield production under conditions of drought or heat stress. However, how these genotypes perform in terms of growth, physiological responses and most importantly seed production, under conditions of drought and heat combination is mostly unknown. Here, we studied the impact of water deficit and heat stress combination on the physiology, seed production and yield per plant of two soybean genotypes, Magellan and Plant Introduction (PI) 548313, that differ in their reproductive responses to heat stress. Our findings reveal that although PI 548313 produced more seeds than Magellan under conditions of heat stress, under conditions of water deficit and heat stress combination its seed production decreased. Because number of flowers and pollen germination of PI 548313 remained high under heat or water deficit and heat combination, the reduced seed production exhibited by PI 548313 under the stress combination could be a result of processes that occur at the stigma, ovaries and/or other parts of the flower following pollen germination. Highlight Tolerance to heat stress was found not to confer tolerance to a combination of water deficit and heat stress in soybean, highlighting the need for breeding strategies targeting the stress combination.