Active genetic program coupled with the marker assisted selection and the soybean genome mapping facility at the NCSB help to identify and develop soybean germplasm and varieties with desirable seed traits. Several research projects are ongoing at the NCSB scientist's labs, focusing on improving soybean seed composition and producing soybean with value-added traits. Since the soybean seed is the source of protein, oil, and secondary metabolites, the NCSB scientist's another major research emphasis is on the developing seeds to relate gene expression profiles to metabolite profile NCSB. Some of the major research efforts are highlighted below.

Soybean metabolite analysis:

In addition to being one of the richest sources of oil, soybean seed is an essential source of high quality protein and has considerable potential as a source of several compounds and small molecules for human health. Although the 'blue print' of soybean is represented by the genome, its behavior is expressed as its phenotype, i.e. growth characteristics, cell differentiation, responses to biotic and abiotic stresses, secondary metabolite and enzyme production. Therefore, the secondary metabolite profiling of soybean is important for functional genomics and in the search of novel compounds that may serve as biotechnology products for human health and nutrition. Another important factor is that various environmental stresses, such as drought and temperature, regulate the soybean metabolome and the metabolic fingerprinting during different stages of development can lead to the discovery of chemical diversity and useful functionality in human health.

Targeted metabolic pathway engineering for value added traits:

Towards the targeted genetic and metabolic engineering approaches to enhance the seed composition several collaborative research projects are in progress at NCSB. For example, efforts are underway to generate transgenic soybean seeds with enhanced and modified phytosterol content.

Another example is the genetic engineering for modified oil content in soybean. The protein content among soybean germplasm collections varies between 34-56% with a median of ~42% whereas oil content ranges from 8-27% with a median value of ~20%. In the US more than 13 billion pounds of soy oil is consumed in food-based products whereas the industrial application of soy oil accounts for ~4% of the total soy oil consumption in the US. Given the flexibility of the world market for oil seed products, the development of soybean having superior oil traits (quantity and quality) has great promises to expand its competitiveness. The surplus oil from genetically modified soybean can be diverted towards biodiesel production or other industrial application.

Seed development: NCSB scientists are elucidating gene regulatory networks controlling basic seed development processes and responses to various stress conditions using transcriptome, proteome and metabolome tools.