{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,7]],"date-time":"2026-09-07T05:11:33Z","timestamp":1788757893825,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":50,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,7]],"date-time":"2026-09-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1788739200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100005046","name":"Natural Science Foundation of Heilongjiang Province","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["BS2025C003"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["BS2025C003"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100005046","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Plant Sci."],"abstract":"<jats:p>\n                    Mepiquat chloride (DPC) regulates crop architecture, but its effects on soybean yield formation and drought-related physiological responses remain insufficiently understood. We conducted field experiments to assess the effects of five DPC concentrations (0, 125, 200, 275, and 500 mg L\n                    <jats:sup>\u22121<\/jats:sup>\n                    ) on plant architecture, yield components, and grain yield in two soybean cultivars with contrasting drought tolerance, Heinong 44 (HN44) and Heinong 65 (HN65). We then used a sand-culture experiment with PEG-6000-induced osmotic stress to examine DPC-associated changes in root and shoot growth and stress-related physiology. Under field conditions, DPC reduced plant height and internode elongation and increased stem diameter. It also altered pod-set composition and increased seed number per plant, resulting in higher grain yield. The greatest yield increase in HN44 occurred at 200 mg L\n                    <jats:sup>\u22121<\/jats:sup>\n                    DPC (29.44%), whereas the largest numerical increase in HN65 occurred at 275 mg L\n                    <jats:sup>\u22121<\/jats:sup>\n                    DPC (12.99%). However, yield did not differ significantly between the 200 and 275 mg L\n                    <jats:sup>\u22121<\/jats:sup>\n                    treatments in HN65; therefore, 200 mg L\n                    <jats:sup>\u22121<\/jats:sup>\n                    DPC was selected for the subsequent osmotic-stress experiment. Under PEG-induced osmotic stress, DPC restricted shoot and leaf-area expansion while promoting root growth and biomass accumulation. DPC-treated plants maintained higher SPAD values and PSII-related fluorescence parameters and showed lower non-photochemical quenching. In leaves and roots, DPC treatment was associated with lower hydrogen peroxide and malondialdehyde contents, higher antioxidant-enzyme activities, and greater osmotic-adjustment capacity. DPC treatment was also associated with enhanced phenylpropanoid metabolism, greater lignin accumulation, and tissue-specific changes in endogenous hormone profiles. These findings show that DPC can improve yield formation under the non-drought field conditions examined and modulate morphological and physiological responses under PEG-induced osmotic stress. They provide a basis for optimizing DPC application in soybean production and for further evaluating its role in drought adaptation.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpls.2026.1923691","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,7]],"date-time":"2026-09-07T04:23:29Z","timestamp":1788755009000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Regulatory effects of mepiquat chloride on soybean yield formation and physiological responses to drought stress"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Xinyu","family":"Zhou","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Agriculture, Northeast Agricultural University","place":["Harbin, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xiaomei","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Agriculture, Heilongjiang Agricultural Engineering Vocational Technical University","place":["Harbin, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Wei","family":"Zhao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Agriculture, Northeast Agricultural University","place":["Harbin, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xiyue","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Agriculture, Northeast Agricultural University","place":["Harbin, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yuanqi","family":"Ma","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Agriculture, Northeast Agricultural University","place":["Harbin, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Shoukun","family":"Dong","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Agriculture, Northeast Agricultural University","place":["Harbin, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,7]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"317","DOI":"10.1007\/978-1-60761-702-0_20","article-title":"Methods for determination of proline in plants","volume-title":"Plant Stress Tolerance: Methods and Protocols","author":"\u00c1brah\u00e1m","year":"2010"},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"227","DOI":"10.1007\/978-981-19-4941-8_10","article-title":"Drought stress: involvement of plant hormones in perception, signaling, and response","volume-title":"Plant Hormones and Climate Change","author":"Aliniaeifard","year":"2023"},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"3335","DOI":"10.1105\/tpc.111.089870","article-title":"The basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor MYC2 directly represses PLETHORA expression during jasmonate-mediated modulation of the root stem cell niche in Arabidopsis","volume":"23","author":"Chen","year":"2011","journal-title":"Plant Cell"},{"key":"B4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.agwat.2025.109320","article-title":"Changes in shoot and root adaptations of fibrous-root and taproot crops in response to different drought types: a meta-analysis","volume":"309","author":"Dao","year":"2025","journal-title":"Agric. 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