Legume Genomics and Genetics 2025, Vol.16, No.5, 234-244 http://cropscipublisher.com/index.php/lgg 234 Feature Review Open Access Molecular Dissection of Cold Response Pathways in Adzuki Bean Xiaoxi Zhou, Tianxia Guo Institute of Life Sciences, Jiyang College, Zhejiang A&F University, Zhuji, 311800, Zhejiang, China Corresponding email: tianxia.guo@jicat.org Legume Genomics and Genetics, 2025 Vol.16, No.5 doi: 10.5376/lgg.2025.16.0024 Received: 16 Aug., 2025 Accepted: 28 Sep., 2025 Published: 18 Oct., 2025 Copyright © 2025 Zhou and Guo, This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Preferred citation for this article: Zhou X.X., and Guo T.X., 2025, Molecular dissection of cold response pathways in adzuki bean, Legume Genomics and Genetics, 16(5): 234-244 (doi: 10.5376/lgg.2025.16.0024) Abstract Adzuki beans (Vigna angularis), as an important edible legume crop, have a wide cultivation base and nutritional value in East Asia. However, during early spring or high-latitude planting, it often suffers from low-temperature stress, which seriously affects seed germination, seedling growth and yield formation. To deeply analyze the response mechanism of adzuki beans to low-temperature stress, this study systematically explored the key regulatory networks of their cold response pathways at the molecular level, and sorted out the low-temperature perception and initial signal transduction mechanisms of adzuki beans, including the dynamic changes of early signal molecules such as calcium signaling (Ca2+), reactive oxygen species (ROS), and nitric oxide (NO). Focusing on the classic ICE-CBF-COR pathway, the expression characteristics of transcription factors such as CBF/DREB, MYB, and bZIP and their regulatory effects on downstream cold resistance genes were analyzed. Further, the epigenetic mechanisms such as DNA methylation and histone modification, as well as the regulatory roles of miRNA and lncRNA in the cold response of adzuki beans were explored. In this study, through the analysis of actual cases, multiple candidate genes with significant differential expression under low-temperature conditions were identified and verified. Combined with qRT-PCR and heterologous overexpression experiments, their potential functions in enhancing cold resistance were revealed. This study provides theoretical support for a deeper understanding of the complex molecular mechanism of adzuki beans' low-temperature response, and also offers key genetic resources and technical foundations for breeding cold-resistant and high-yield varieties. Keywords Adzuki beans; Low-temperature stress; Signal transduction; Transcriptional regulation; Cold-resistant breeding 1 Introduction Adzuki beans (Vigna angularis), a leguminous crop, have long been widely cultivated in many regions due to their high nutritional value and good economic returns. But problems also arise, especially when it encounters low temperatures during the seedling stage or flowering period, its performance is very likely to "fail". When cold air comes, not only is growth hindered, but a series of physiological disorders may also occur within the plants, such as oxidative damage and metabolic abnormalities, and the yield is also affected. For those planting areas that frequently encounter low-temperature weather, this is undoubtedly a big problem (Xiang et al., 2024). If there are no appropriate cold resistance measures, farmers' investment is likely to fail to yield the expected returns and may even affect the overall stability of regional grain. Regarding how plants respond to cold stress, research has actually revealed many mechanisms, and they seem more complex than imagined. For example, there is a type of signaling pathway called ICE-CBF-COR that is activated by low temperature, thereby driving the expression of a series of genes related to cold resistance (Wang et al., 2024b). In addition, measures such as adjusting the stability of the film and activating the antioxidant system are also ways that plants themselves use to buffer cold damage. In the experiment on adzuki beans, some people attempted to spray exogenous abolic acid (ABA), and it was found that this could enhance the activity of antioxidant enzymes and also reduce the yield loss caused by low temperatures. This also reminds us once again that hormone regulation may be an important part of plants' coping with cold stress. Not only adzuki beans, but also similar mechanisms have emerged in model plants and other crops, including epigenetic regulation and the participation of certain specific stress genes. It can be seen that there is indeed more than one way for plants to cope.
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