Project Number: 3620-43000-006-03
Project Type: Specific Cooperative Agreement

Start Date: Sep 12, 2006
End Date: Sep 30, 2010

Objective:
To understand the growth and composition of soybean is governed by its genetic system using functional genomic technologies and to discover and utilize the genes and pathways in soybean that make them valuable and that help keep them competitive in U.S. and world agriculture.

Approach:
We have previously been using microarrays to track the changes in gene expression of thousands of mRNAs in near isogenic lines containing mutations that affect protein content and/or the composition of secondary compounds, as well as morphological traits. In the amended work, we will continue these approaches but will also employ the latest state-of-the-art sequencing technologies to obtain millions of sequenced transcripts in these stages of development and also in selected mutant lines to assess in greater detail the flux of gene transcripts at these critical stages of development. Millions of new transcripts will be generated and the soon to be completed soybean genome sequence from the Joint Genome Institute will be used as a reference for interpreting the transcript patterns. The availability of the genome sequence and the recent ability to sequencing millions of transcripts is rapidly transforming the way that soybean resesearch applications toward soybean improvement will be conducted in the future.