Skip to main content
ARS Home » Midwest Area » West Lafayette, Indiana » Crop Production and Pest Control Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #397885
Research Project: Genetic Enhancement of Seed Quality and Plant Health Traits, and Designing Soybeans with Improved Functionality

Location: Crop Production and Pest Control Research

Title: Mutations in KASIIB result in increased levels of palmitic acid in soybean seeds

Author
item DEVEREAUX, RACHEL - Purdue University
item Carrero-Colon, Militza
item Hudson, Karen

Submitted to: Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/9/2024
Publication Date: 3/5/2024
Citation: Devereaux, R., Carrero-Colon, M., Hudson, K.A. 2024. Mutations in KASIIB result in increased levels of palmitic acid in soybean seeds. Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society. https://doi.org/10.1002/aocs.12827.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/aocs.12827

Interpretive Summary: Some applications of soybean oil such as margarine, lubricants, or other industrial compounds can be improved with a higher percentage of fully saturated fats. Commodity soybean is only 10-15% saturated fat. We isolated and characterized five new mutants and made combinations of these new mutant genes to demonstrate that when combined can produce soybean that are up to 24% saturated fat (with approximately 20% being from palmitic acid). This new genetic diversity in soybean provides useful tools for a variety of soybean breeders that can be used to make new cultivars.

Technical Abstract: The plasticity of the lipid profile of soybean oil has made the soybean a crop with value in feed, food and industrial uses. Soybean oil typically consists of approximately 10% of the fully saturated palmitic acid, which has value for industrial purposes, however it is generally undesirable in food applications. Two soybean KASII (ketoacyl-ACP synthase II) genes have been previously implicated in the control of seed palmitic acid levels. Using forward genetics, we isolated four novel alleles in the GmKASIIB gene that result in increased levels of palmitic acid,ranging from 13% to 16% of the total fatty acid content, over multiple seasons in the field. Three of the KASIIB mutations result in independent amino acid substitutions at conserved positions in the KASII protein, and one single nucleotide poly-morphism is likely to cause aberrant splicing of the KASIIB transcript. These new mutations can be used in breeding applications to increase palmitic acid content and to probe the control of fatty acid biosynthesis in soybean seeds.