Unlocking the mechanistic key factors and mechanism of drought stress tolerance in soybean via application of rutin targeting the ABA and DREB nodes

Drought stress is a significant abiotic stress that negatively affects plant growth and production. It hampers global food and energy security. Rutin is a natural flavonoid that has excellent antioxidant potential. The present study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of rutin under drought-induced stress (PEG 6000) at three different concentrations (20 %, 40 %, and 60 %) in a pot experimental design setup. The results suggested that the application of rutin at 0.5 mM significantly enhances drought stress tolerance by improving physiological, biochemical, antioxidant, and phenomics parameters, while decreasing the stress marker phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA) and the anthocyanin reflectance index (ARI). Molecular modeling revealed that the key stress proteins related to stress, such as catalase (CAT), ABA −8′-hydroxylase, L-Ascorbate peroxidase, and DREB1B, have high structural quality and were validated by PROCHECK, QMEAN, and ERRAT scores. Rutin exhibited a strong binding affinity to all four proteins, with binding energies ranging from −7.5 to −8.1 kcal/mol, suggesting its potential role as a modulator in stress response pathways. In conclusion, the results suggest that Rutin is a bio-stimulant and a sustainable biofertilizer with the potential to regulate stress and enhance plant production.