Among all other legumes, soybeansare protein powerhouses, providing a
key protein source for humans andlivestockaround the world. Now, after
30 years, scientists at the University of Illinois have identified a
gene with the largest impact on seed protein in soybeans.

In 1992, then-graduate student Brian Diers published the first seed
protein map for soybeans and identified the region of thegenomewhere the
gene might be located. Three decades and many technological advances
later, the publication of two soybean genomes nail down/Glyma.20G85100/,
a gene without a known function but closely related to "clock and
circadian timing" genes.

Like most genes,/Glyma.20G85100/comes in multiple forms or alleles.
Depending on the allele found in a particular soybean line, seed protein
content can be high or low. And, as it turns out, most commercial
soybean lines contain the low-protein allele. According to Diers, the
high-protein allele has a deleterious effect on yield so elite varieties
bred for high yield generally have the low-protein form. The team hoped
that the gene would be involved in nitrogen fixation or nitrogen
metabolism, but the gene appears to be part of the soybean plant's
circadian machinery.

Matt Hudson, co-author of the study said, "It could be that the gene is
involved in moving photosynthesis products into the seed or it could be
some completely unrelated pathway. It's weird, and we really don't know."

Gene important in soybean protein content found after 30-year search |
College of Agricultural, Consumer & Environmental Sciences :: University
of Illinois
[aces.illinois.edu]