Glyphosate (N‐phosphonomethyl‐glycine) is the active ingredient the nonselective herbicide Roundup. The sensitivity of crop plants to glyphosate has limited its in‐season use as a postemergence herbicide. The extension of the use of Roundup herbicide to allow in‐season application in major crops such as soybeans [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] would provide new weed control options for farmers. A glyphosate‐tolerant soybean line, 40‐3‐2, was obtained through expression of the bacterial 5‐enolpyruvylshikimate‐3‐phosphate synthase (EPSP synthase, EPSPS) enzyme from Agrobacterium sp. strain CP4. Line 40‐3‐2 is highly tolerant to glyphosate, showing no visual injury after application of up to 1.68 kg acid equivalent (a.e.) ha−1 of glyphosate under field conditions. Molecular characterization studies determined that the single genetic insert in line 40‐3‐2 contains only a portion of the cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter (P‐E35S), the Petunia hybrida EPSPS chloroplast transit peptide (CTP), the CP4 EPSPS gene, and a portion of the 3' nontranslated region of the nopaline synthase gene (NOS 3') terminator. Inheritance studies have shown that the transgene behaves as a single dominant gene and is stable over several generations.

The advent of biotechnology-derived, herbicide-resistant crops has revolutionized farming practices in many countries. Facile, highly effective, environmentally sound, and profitable weed control methods have been rapidly adopted by crop producers who value the benefits associated with biotechnology-derived weed management traits. But a rapid rise in the populations of several troublesome weeds that are tolerant or resistant to herbicides currently used in conjunction with herbicide-resistant crops may signify that the useful lifetime of these economically important weed management traits will be cut short. We describe the development of soybean and other broadleaf plant species resistant to dicamba, a widely used, inexpensive, and environmentally safe herbicide. The dicamba resistance technology will augment current herbicide resistance technologies and extend their effective lifetime. Attributes of both nuclear- and chloroplast-encoded dicamba resistance genes that affect the potency and expected durability of the herbicide resistance trait are examined.

SummaryPhenotypic characterization of soybean event 335-13, which possesses oil with an increased oleic acid content (> 85%) and reduced palmitic acid content (< 5%), was conducted across multiple environments during 2004 and 2005. Under these conditions, the stability of the novel fatty acid profile of the oil was not influenced by environment. Importantly, the novel soybean event 335-13 was not compromised in yield in both irrigated and non-irrigated production schemes. Moreover, seed characteristics, including total oil and protein, as well as amino acid profile, were not altered as a result of the large shift in the fatty acid profile.The novel oil trait was inherited in a simple Mendelian fashion. The event 335-13 was also evaluated as a feedstock for biodiesel. Extruded oil from event 335-13 produced a biodiesel with improved cold flow and enhanced oxidative stability, two critical fuel parameters that can limit the utility of this renewable transportation fuel.

Transformation of soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] with a gene encoding a glyphosate‐tolerance 5‐enolpyruvylshikimate‐3‐phosphate synthase enzyme from Agrobacterium sp. strain CP4 resulted in the development of glyphosate‐tolerant line 40‐3‐2. Glyphosate (N‐phosphonomethyl glycine) is the active ingredient of Roundup herbicide. Line 40‐3‐2 was yield tested at 17 locations in 1992,23 locations in 1993, and 18 locations in 1994. At those locations, broadcast applications of glyphosate at various rates were made over 40‐3‐2 or its derivatives from early vegetative growth to pod fill. No significant yield reduction was observed as a result of the glyphosate treatment at any of the locations. Development of glyphosate‐tolerant soybean promises to provide the farmer with access to a new weed control system that should result in lower production costs and reliable weed control under a wide range of conditions.

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