ARS | Publication request: New soybean variants in oil composition identified by large scale mutagenesis

Submitted to: International Journal of Agronomy
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: December 8, 2011
Publication Date: February 29, 2012
Citation: Hudson, K.A. 2012. New soybean variants in oil composition identified by large scale mutagenesis. International Journal of Agronomy. doi:10.1155/2012/569817.

Interpretive Summary: Soybeans are an important crop for oil, and the value and utility of soybean oil is dependant upon the molecular composition of the oil. There are five major fatty acids found in soybean oil: Palmitic acid, stearic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid, and linolenic acid. In this work, a population of chemically mutagenized soybeans were screened to identify soybean mutants that possess a higher or lower level of one of these major fatty acids. A number of mutants were discovered. Identification of the genes responsible for the altered oil content may provide a greater understanding of how oil is synthesized and stored by soybean seeds, and the mutants will be useful in conventional plant breeding approaches to produce soybeans with improved oil composition.

Technical Abstract: To identify loci involved in the determination of fatty acid content in mature soybean seeds, we subject 3400 seed samples to fatty acid profiling by gas chromatography. In the mutagenized population, a wide range of variation in the content of each of the five major fatty acids was observed. 74 mutants were identified which contained high or low levels of each of the five major soybean fatty acids, of which of which 50 were selected on the basis of the heritability of the phenotype in the seeds of the subsequent generation. These mutants may represent new loci involved in the determination of soybean seed oil content, or could be new isolates of previously identified genetic variants for soybean oil composition.