Natto, a traditional soyfood fermented by Bacillus subtilis (natto), is prepared by steaming/cooking of soaked soybean seeds followed by inoculation with the bacteria and incubation. Natto soybean has increased in popularity due to its nutritional value and health benefits. Thus, the natto soybean market provides additional opportunities for farmers. The development of soybean cultivars with improved natto quality characteristics is crucial for maintaining and increasing the natto soybean market. Good-quality characteristics of natto are determined by soybean cultivar, processing conditions and bacteria strain. Natto quality evaluation generally 2017) reported a large number of QTLs for different seed traits influencing the quality of natto soybeans such as seed weight, seed coat cracking, hardness, and protein, oil and sugar contents.Development of soybean cultivars with improved natto quality characteristics is crucial for maintaining and increasing the natto market. In order to develop superior natto soybean cultivars, breeders and farmers would benefit from information on natto characteristics preferred by the consumers, seed traits affecting natto quality and their genetic control, and the genetic diversity of natto cultivars and B. subtilis strains.Therefore, we provide a comprehensive review of natto processing conditions, good quality characteristics of natto, seed traits determining natto quality and their genetic variation, cultivar selection and genetic diversity of food-grade soybean germplasms and B. subtilis strains.

Sprouts can be a vehicle for the transmission of several pathogens capable of causing human illness, and the potential source of contamination is seed used for sprouting. The limited information about seed‐borne pathogens as well as their incidence on soybean seeds for soybean sprout industry led the objectives of this study that were to identify seed‐borne pathogens on commercial sprout soybean seeds and to evaluate different decontamination treatments on disinfection effectiveness and sprout quality. Seeds of “MFS‐561,” a sprout soybean cultivar, from three production regions were used in this study. The internal transcribed spacer (ITS1 and ITS2) DNA sequences of the isolated fungi from MFS‐561 seeds were used for species identification. Seven disinfection treatments were evaluated on their effectiveness on reducing fungal incidence and impact on sprout characteristics. Out of 55 fungal isolates obtained from the soybean seeds, seven species and six genera were identified. The most frequent genera across regions were Alternaria, Diaphorte, and Fusarium. The treatment of soaking seeds in 2% calcium hypochlorite for 10 min and 5% acetic acid for 2 min before sprouting were promising seed disinfection treatments as they significantly reduced fungi incidence without any negative effects on sprout quality.

Trypsin inhibitors (TI), a common anti-nutritional factor in soybean, prevent animals’ protein digestibility reducing animal growth performance. No commercial soybean cultivars with low or null concentration of TI are available. The availability of a high throughput genotyping assay will be beneficial to incorporate the low TI trait into elite breeding lines. The aim of this study is to develop and validate a breeder friendly Kompetitive Allele Specific PCR (KASP) assay linked to low Kunitz trypsin inhibitor (KTI) in soybean seeds. A total of 200 F3:5 lines derived from PI 547656 (low KTI) X Glenn (normal KTI) were genotyped using the BARCSoySNP6K_v2 Beadchip. F3:4 and F3:5 lines were grown in Blacksburg and Orange, Virginia in three years, respectively, and were measured for KTI content using a quantitative HPLC method. We identified three SNP markers tightly linked to the major QTL associated to low KTI in the mapping population. Based on these SNPs, we developed and validated the KASP assays in a set of 93 diverse germplasm accessions. The marker Gm08_44814503 has 86% selection efficiency for the accessions with low KTI and could be used in marker assisted breeding to facilitate the incorporation of low KTI content in soybean seeds.

Key message Two major QTLs associated with low seed coat deficiency of soybean seeds were identified in two biparental populations, and three SNP markers were validated to assist low-SCD natto soybean breeding selection. Abstract Soybean seed coat deficiency (SCD), known as seed coat cracking during soaking in the natto production process, is problematic because split or broken beans clog production lines and increases production costs. Development of natto soybean cultivars with low SCD is crucial to support the growth of the natto industry. Unfortunately, information on the genetic control of SCD in soybean, which is desperately needed to facilitate breeding selection, remains sparse. In this study, two F2 populations derived from V11-0883 × V12-1626 (Pop 1) and V11-0883 × V12-1885 (Pop 2) were developed and genotyped with BARCSoySNP6K Beadchips and F2-derived lines were evaluated for SCD in three consecutive years (2016–2018) in order to identify quantitative trait loci (QTLs) associated with low SCD in soybean. A total of 17 QTLs underlying SCD were identified in two populations. Among these, two major and stable QTLs, qSCD15 on chromosome 15 and qSCD20 on chromosome 20, were detected across multiple years. These QTLs explained up to 30.3% of the phenotypic variation for SCD in Pop 1 and 6.1% in Pop 2 across years. Three SNP markers associated with the qSCD20 were validated in additional four biparental populations. The average selection efficiency of low-SCD soybean was 77% based on two tightly linked markers, Gm20_34626867 and Gm20_34942502, and 64% based on the marker Gm20_35625615. The novel and stable QTLs identified in this study will facilitate elucidation of the genetic mechanism controlling SCD in soybean, and the markers will significantly accelerate breeding for low-SCD soybean through marker-assisted selection.

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Soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merr.) cultivars with increased protein and sucrose content are desirable to enhance soybean meal quality; however, the complex interactions between soybean traits, mainly trade‐offs, make the plant breeders’ job challenging because traits cannot simultaneously be enhanced. Information about the interactions of seed carbohydrate composition with other seed traits remains inconclusive and contradictory; thus, this study explored the interactions among soluble carbohydrate content with other seed traits, flowering time, and maturity in a diverse panel of 1096 soybean accessions from the USDA Soybean Germplasm Collection. Trait interactions were explored through phenotypic, additive genetic, and residual correlations. We did not identify traits that can be useful in the indirect selection of sucrose. Additive genetic correlations of sucrose with flowering and maturity time suggest that obtaining cultivars with high sucrose content might be easier in earlier flowering and later maturing cultivars. Sucrose correlations with other seed traits were primarily driven by their additive genetic correlations, which make them more stable, whereas correlations of raffinose with oil and maturity were population and environment specific. The two main obstacles to enhancing soymeal quality are the trade‐offs of protein with sucrose and oil.

Al amparo de la teoría de recursos y capacidades, las capacidades dinámicas se han configurado como interés de desarrollo teórico considerando las demandas propias de la globalización y su influencia en las empresas para el direccionamiento estratégico en entornos volátiles propios de la modernidad. En tal sentido y reconociendo que desde los estudios organizacionales se posibilita el análisis de las formas de organización considerando su atención en los sistemas y procedimientos que regulan la acción se posibilita el abordaje de las capacidades dinámicas como caso de estudio a partir de los hechos que éstas suscitan al interior de las organizaciones para su configuración desde las interacciones y los cambios que inciden en su desempeño a largo plazo. El presente artículo expone el andamiaje teórico que posibilita el análisis organizacional de las capacidades dinámicas y se aproxima al reconocimiento metodológico que desde los estudios organizacionales se han abordado para éstas donde se ha privilegiado el abordaje investigativo desde una perspectiva primordialmente instrumental de la acción empresarial y del individuo que se asienta en la alta dirección.