Gene Editing for Sugar Perception Transport and Source–Sink Optimization in Soybean

Sugars serve as primary energy sources and key essential signaling molecules, playing pivotal roles in regulating plant growth and development. Crop yield is tightly linked to the efficient partitioning of photoassimilates from source leaves to sink organs. This process is intricately regulated by sugar sensing and transport systems, which orchestrate the dynamic source–sink balance by modulating phloem loading, long-distance translocation, and sink unloading. While substantial progress has been made in deciphering these mechanisms in model organisms, a comprehensive understanding of the regulatory network in soybean—a globally significant crop with unique plant architecture in which leaves, inflorescences, and pods are borne on nodes—remains elusive. The emergence of gene-editing tools, notably CRISPR/Cas9, offers powerful tools for dissecting redundant transporter families and targeted engineering of key regulatory nodes. This review synthesizes the current understanding of the molecular networks governing sugar perception and long-distance transport, with a specific focus on soybean. It further explores the utility of gene editing in accelerating the functional characterization of critical components and highlights potential molecular targets for manipulating source–sink dynamics to enhance soybean yield.