Data from: Identity recognition in response to different levels of genetic relatedness in commercial soya bean

Identity recognition systems allow plants to tailor competitive phenotypes in response to the genetic relatedness of neighbours. There is limited evidence for the existence of recognition systems in crop species and whether they operate at a level that would allow for identification of different degrees of relatedness. Here, we test the responses of commercial soya bean cultivars to neighbours of varying genetic relatedness consisting of other commercial cultivars (intraspecific), its wild progenitor Glycine soja, and another leguminous species Phaseolus vulgaris (interspecific). We found, for the first time to our knowledge, that a commercial soya bean cultivar, OAC Wallace, showed identity recognition responses to neighbours at different levels of genetic relatedness. OAC Wallace showed no response when grown with other commercial soya bean cultivars (intra-specific neighbours), showed increased allocation to leaves compared with stems with wild soya beans (highly related wild progenitor species), and increased allocation to leaves compared with stems and roots with white beans (interspecific neighbours). Wild soya bean also responded to identity recognition but these responses involved changes in biomass allocation towards stems instead of leaves suggesting that identity recognition responses are species-specific and consistent with the ecology of the species. In conclusion, elucidating identity recognition in crops may provide further knowledge into mechanisms of crop competition and the relationship between crop density and yield.

身份识别系统（Identity recognition systems）能够使植物依据邻株的遗传相关性（genetic relatedness）调控自身的竞争表型（competitive phenotypes）。当前关于作物物种中存在此类识别系统的研究证据较为匮乏，且尚不明确这些系统能否实现对不同程度亲缘关系的区分。本研究以商业化大豆品种为对象，测试其对不同遗传相关性邻株的响应，邻株涵盖其他商业化大豆品种（种内（intraspecific）邻株）、其野生祖先种野大豆（Glycine soja），以及另一种豆科物种菜豆（Phaseolus vulgaris，种间（interspecific）邻株）。据我们所知，本研究首次发现，商业化大豆品种OAC Wallace可对不同遗传相关性水平的邻株产生身份识别响应：当与其他商业化大豆品种（种内邻株）共培养时，该品种未产生任何响应；与野生大豆（高度相关的野生祖先种）共培养时，其相较于茎部的叶片生物量分配量显著提升；而与白豆（菜豆Phaseolus vulgaris，种间邻株）共培养时，其相较于茎部与根部的叶片生物量分配量进一步升高。野生大豆同样可产生身份识别响应，但其响应表现为将生物量分配偏向茎部而非叶片，这提示身份识别响应具有物种特异性，且与该物种的生态习性相符。综上，阐明作物中的身份识别机制，可进一步深化我们对作物竞争机制以及作物密度与产量之间关联的认知。