Discovery may lead to new gene targets to boost soybean oil

Purdue University scientists have discovered that a single nucleotide mutation and the characteristics it created may be critical for the domestication of soybeans. Understanding that mutation today could help scientists improve seed oil content in one of the world’s most important crops.

Jianxin Ma, a professor at Purdue’s Department of Agronomy, led a study that found that a gene called B1 is responsible for producing bloom, a powdery substance produced in the soybean pod that coats the plant’s seeds. Bloom is helpful for wild soybeans because it makes the plant less visible and contains allergens that are harmful to animals and humans if ingested.

A single nucleotide mutation in the B1 gene eliminates the bloom, and farmers thousands of years ago likely planted “shiny” soybeans they were able to safely consume. Interestingly those bloom-less soybeans also had another advantage.

“We found that the mutation within the B1 gene resulted in substantial increases of seed oil content in cultivated soybeans compared with the wild type,” said Ma, whose findings were published in the journal Nature Plants. “It seems like the selection of this mutation by farmers was essential for making soybean an important oilseed crop that we have now.”

The B1 gene doesn’t affect oil biosynthesis in seeds at all, but the mutation that causes loss of bloom heightens the activity of genes promoting oil biosynthesis in pods that result in an increase of oil accumulation in seeds. The findings show that there may be genetic targets outside those responsible for seed traits that could affect soybean seed oil content.

Featured Stories

Keeping your pets safe during the dog days of summer

As temperatures and humidity rise across the U.S., Candace Croney, director of the Center for...

Digital forestry can help mitigate and prevent wildfires

The National Interagency Fire Center reports that, as of this writing, 19,444 fires have burned...

Researcher uses pipette on parsley plant

Researchers examine nanotechnological methods for improving agriculture

Nanoscale particles could potentially help address agricultural and environmental sustainability...

Diane Wang gathers plant data with a student.

Fields of Discovery: High school students join Purdue professors in research

High school students join Purdue professors to learn about research opportunities in agriculture...

a tractor spreads gypsum across a field and a soil probe has a sample of six inches of a dark brown soil in the metal tube

How Purdue researchers and the USDA are finding ways to bury carbon beneath our feet

Soils are a rare win-win when it comes to burying the carbon released from burning fossil fuels....

Fields of Discovery: From track to trough— leaping into research

This summer, Rieko Wilford is making big leaps researching methane emissions; on the track,...