Sequencing soy genome could improve crops

Soy has become the first major crop legume species which has a complete draft genome sequence published that could pave way for improved crops of the protein rich plant.

The sequence, which essentially provides a parts list of the soy genome, will help scientists use the plant's genes to improve its characteristics. Scientists will use the new sequence to identify which genes are responsible for particular plant characteristics, and then target specific genes to produce desired characteristics.

These desired characteristics may include increases in the plant's oil content to promote the use of soyoil as a biofuel, bigger crops, improved resistance to pests and diseases that currently claim large percentages of soy crops, improvements in the digestibility of soy by animals and reductions in contaminants present in the manure of soy-fed swine and poultry that may pollute farm runoff.

The research team plans to identify which soy genes warrant targeting by comparing the genomes of different varieties of soy plants to one another. They will re-sequence 20,000 soy lines that are currently stored in the National Plant Germplasm System to identify desired variances of genes that are not currently captured by domesticated soy lines.

"When soy were domesticated, they were selected for seed size and other traits, but there were a lot of potentially valuable genes left behind. There may be valuable genes associated with protein content or disease resistance in the stored lines that are not currently in the cultivated lines," said Scott Jackson of Purdue University, the corresponding author on the soy genome study.

Having the new soy sequence as a reference will significantly speed and reduce the costs of re-sequencing the 20,000 stored soy lines.

The research team comprised 18 institutions, including the US Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute (DOE JGI), the U.S.S Department of Agriculture -Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS), Purdue University and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. The research was supported by the DOE, National Science Foundation, USDA and United Soybean Board.