Skip to main content
ARS Home » Southeast Area » Raleigh, North Carolina » Soybean and Nitrogen Fixation Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #206193
Title: Molecular analysis of soybean lines with low palmitic acid content in the seed oil

Author
item CARDINAL, ANDREA - NC STATE UNIVERSITY
item Burton, Joseph
item CAMACHO, ANA MARIA - NC STATE UNIVETSITY
item YANG, JI HYUNG - NC STATE UNIVERSITY
item Wilson, Richard
item DEWEY, RALPH - NC STATE UNIVERSITY

Submitted to: Crop Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/14/2006
Publication Date: 1/15/2007
Citation: Cardinal, A., Burton, J.W., Camacho, A., Yang, J., Wilson, R.F., Dewey, R. 2007. Molecular analysis of soybean lines with low palmitic acid content in the seed oil. Crop Sci. 47:304-310.

Interpretive Summary: Palmitic acid is the major saturated fatty acid found in soybean oil, accounting for approximately 11% of the seed oil content. Reducing the palmitic acid levels of the oil is desirable because of the negative health effects specifically associated with this fatty acid. One of the genes known to reduce the seed palmitic acid content in soybean is fapnc. Previous studies indicated that fapnc is associated with a deletion in a gene designated FATB. The DNAs for four FATB genes is soybean were isolated and compared. Plants that have fapnc were missing the FATB1a form of the gene. A DNA marker was devised that corresponds to the FATB1a gene. The marker was used successfully to determine which plants had reduced palmitic acid. This marker should be very useful in soybean breeding programs designed to lower the palmitic acid levels of soybean oil.

Technical Abstract: Palmitic acid is the major saturated fatty acid found in soybean oil, accounting for approximately 11% of the seed oil content. Reducing the palmitic acid levels of the oil is desirable because of the negative health effects specifically associated with this fatty acid. One of the genetic loci known to reduce the seed palmitic acid content in soybean is fapnc. Previous studies indicated that fapnc is associated with a deletion in a gene (designated FATB) encoding 16:0-ACP thioesterase activity. In study, full length cDNAs of three of the four unique FATB genes expressed in soybean were isolated, and it was shown that the isoform designated GmFATB1a represents the specific gene deleted in lines possessing the fapnc locus. Allele specific primers corresponding to GmFATB1a were used to genotype plants from two F4-derived populations that were segregating for fapnc. The GmFATB1a-specific markers were effective in accounting for 62 to 70% of the genotypic variation in palmitate content in the two populations studied. Because the markers developed in this study are 100% linked to the locus of interest, they should be particularly useful in marker-assisted selection programs designed to lower the palmitic acid levels of soybean oil.