Skip to main content
ARS Home » Midwest Area » Columbia, Missouri » Plant Genetics Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #214591
Title: Transgenic soybean seeds rebalance protein composition to maintain protein content

Author
item HERMAN, ELIOT
item SCHMIDT, MONICA - DON DANFORTH PLT SCI CTR

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/27/2007
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: The ontogeny of both seed structure and of seed storage substances results from a determinant genetic program that produces a population of nearly identical seeds. The seed’s developmental program to accumulate storage substances can be modified by nutrient availability and environmental conditions resulting in small changes of composition. Using biotechnology techniques the synthesis of soybean storage proteins has been silenced. The resulting transgenic soybean seeds rebalance their composition restoring the seed’s protein content. The transgenic soybeans were evaluated with DNA array, proteomics and metabolomics assays. The morphology of the storage cells was examined using high-pressure cryofixation electron microscopy supplemented with electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) of N and S content of the seed’s organelles. The transgenic soybeans rebalance protein composition by the accumulation of an alternate protein inventory. This rebalancing of protein composition appears to occur at the post-transcriptional level. Introgression of foreign proteins into the transgenic seeds further alters protein content and results in further rebalancing of seed protein composition. Our results indicate that soybean seeds assess the composition and quantity of reserve proteins during development and can make major adjustments in protein composition as the seed’s development proceeds. How stored protein composition is regulated has broad implications for agriculture and can be used by biotechnology to produce and optimize seeds with modified composition and introduced new traits.