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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Columbia, Missouri » Plant Genetics Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #344949
Title: Environmental stability of carbohydrate profiles in different soybean genotypes

Author
item JO, HYUN - University Of Missouri
item LEE, JEONG-DONG - Kyungpook National University
item Bilyeu, Kristin

Submitted to: Crop Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/15/2017
Publication Date: 1/25/2018
Citation: Jo, H., Lee, J., Bilyeu, K.D. 2018. Environmental stability of carbohydrate profiles in different soybean genotypes. Crop Science. 58:773-782. https://doi.org/10.2135/cropsci2017.08.0497.

Interpretive Summary: Soybean meal is in strong demand in the livestock industry because of the high level of protein and as a source of metabolizable energy. It is a challenge to develop soybean lines that increase metabolizable energy in soybean meal, but modifying the accumulation of carbohydrate components is a reasonable approach. Among the carbohydrate components, sucrose is the desirable factor for livestock feeds. However, the Raffinose Family of Oligosaccharides (RFO) are considered anti-nutritional carbohydrates because they are poorly digested and under-utilized nutritionally for some important livestock, particularly poultry and swine. We have developed soybean lines with reduced to negligible amounts of seed RFO and have tested those lines in two locations over two years in Missouri. We concluded that the accumulation of sucrose in soybean seeds was different by year but the level of RFO content was stable in different locations and within the different years in Missouri. Also, we determined that the achievable threshold level of sucrose concentration is 7 % of the seed (dry weight basis). The impact of the research is new knowledge that will lead to variety development and more comprehensive use of modified RFO soybeans to improve the value of soybean meal as a livestock feed source.

Technical Abstract: Soybean is an important annual crop. The raffinose family of oligosaccharides (RFO) raffinose and stachyose are anti-nutritional carbohydrates present in soybean seeds. Consumption of soybean seed products with low RFO reduced flatulence in humans and increased metabolizable energy efficiency in chickens, pig, and dog. The objective of this study was to determine the environmental stability of the carbohydrate profiles for soybean lines containing different allele combinations of two key raffinose synthase (RS2 and RS3) genes in two locations over two years. Although this study was conducted with different genetic backgrounds, the results indicated that carbohydrate profile in soybean seed is mostly determined by RS2 and RS3 genotype, and galactinol and sucrose content were mainly affected by environmental factors. Genotype was the major factor for the RFO content in soybean seeds. In addition, soybean lines with W331- alleles of RS2 were the most stable for sucrose and RFO over four environments.