Genomics Approaches To Soybean Improvement

Abstract

Abstract:Soybean, Glycine max (L.) Merr., has become the major source of edible vegetable oils and high protein feeds for livestocks in the world. A native of Eastern Asia, soybean was introduced into the USA and South America where it has become the most economically important agricultural crop and export commodity. In recent years, as demand for soybean increased due to the values of seed oil and protein, as well as industrial and nutriceutical uses, it has received more attention by scientists aiming to the development and employment of genomic technology for soybean improvement. Several DNA marker systems, such as restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), simple sequence repeat (SSR), and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), were integrated into the soybean genetic linkage map, which has been successfully utilized for mapping quantitative trait loci (QTL) linked to desirable traits and marker-assisted breeding of disease resistance and seed composition. The availability of a large number of expressed sequence tags (EST) and BAC sequences facilitated the discovery of new SNP and SSR markers in soybean toward the construction of high resolution genetic maps. Integrated genetic and physical maps will provide an invaluable resource for gene identification and positional cloning of important quantitative trait loci in soybean. Functional genomics has emerged as a new and rapidly evolved discipline to identify and understand gene functions via an integrated approach which includes transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, translational genomics, and bioinformatics. The completion of whole soybean genome sequencing is anticipated in a few years. The availability of the soybean genome sequences in combination with the integrated genetic and physical maps will be invaluable resources providing soybean researchers powerful and efficient genomic tools to identify and characterize genes or QTLs for agronomic traits of soybean. As a result, it facilitates marker-assisted breeding and soybean improvement.

Gene divergence of homeologous regions associated with a major seed protein content QTL in soybean

“…Over 61 QTLs are associated with the protein content in 17 different soybean populations (Vuong et al, 2007). The seed composition traits may be associated with seed sucrose content in soybean and a QTL for seed sucrose content on Chr 20 made a phenotypic contribution of greater than 10%, which may be a major QTL with a pleiotropic effect (Maughan et al, 2000).…”

“…Since soybean [ Glycine max (L.) Merrill] seed is a good source of protein and oil, it is grown widely throughout the world for its numerous uses, such as various edible products, animal feed and potential industrial applications (Vuong et al, 2007; Van et al, 2008; Kim et al, 2012). Although the wild soybean ( G. soja Sieb.…”

“…), an undomesticated form of the current soybean, is distributed in East Asia, including China, Taiwan, Russian Far East, the Korean Peninsula, and Japan, the origin or domestication site of soybean is still in controversy (Boerma and Specht, 2004; Van et al, in press). After soybean is introduced into Central and South America in the mid-1900's via North America in 1765, soybean becomes one of the major economically valuable crops in terms of the world's total production (Vuong et al, 2007; Stupar and Specht, 2013). …”

Quantitative Trait Loci Associated with Moisture, Protein, and Oil Content in Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.]

“…All of these interfered in QTLs to improve protein and oil content of soybean by marker-assisted selection (MAS). On the other hand, several studies reported SNP markers associated with QTL for several traits in soybean (Vuong, Wu, Pathan, Valliodan, & Nguyen, 2007), but there are only two studies reported an exclusively SNP-based genetic map (Kassem, 2012;Hyten et al, 2010a). The genetic relationship between moisture, protein, oil and other traits could be explored by comparing QTL mapping results when available and fine mapping of each trait would provide accurate genetic information.…”

Characterization of 56 Soybean Accessions on Yield Components and Maturity-related Traits

“…Soybean (Glycine max), an economical legume crop, is one of alternative source of protein (Hanafie, 2004;Vuong et al, 2007). In the last 20 years, Indonesian soybean plantations showed significant decreases both in total areas and production with a total national area of 1.6 millions ha and total production of 1.87 million tons in 1992 to become only 0.551 million ha and 0.780 million tons in 2013.…”