Excellence in Research: Genomic Characterization of Seed Filling and Nutritional Features in Edamame and Mature Soybeans

大豆是世界上种植最广泛的作物之一，在粮食安全和国际贸易中发挥着重要作用。它是人类食用植物蛋白和植物油以及动物饲料蛋白粉的主要来源。毛豆是一种对北美来说相对较新的蔬菜大豆，在绿色豆阶段收获并直接用于减肥菜肴或小吃。种子充实和营养特性对作物产量和产品质量至关重要。该项目将阐明毛豆和成熟大豆种子灌浆的生物学和基因组特征以及营养成分，并将鉴定与目标性状相关的基因组变异和因果候选基因。将使用快速有效的评价和遗传分析技术。这些方法和研究成果将用于改善STEM教育，包括学生和下一代科学家的培训以及课程教学，并通过向不同利益相关者展示来提高公众的科学素养和参与度。此外，该项目将有利于粮食作物、蔬菜和水果物种的相关研究。这些结果将对广泛的研究和公众社区有价值。种子灌浆是一种受遗传控制的经济上重要的复杂性状，涉及许多功能基因和/或代谢途径。初步观察表明，毛豆具有高度的遗传变异性，有助于大豆的遗传多样性。本项目的目标是通过对毛豆和成熟大豆性状的基因组分析，阐明调节种子组成和种子充实的潜在遗传结构和分子机制。该项目将具体解决：1）大豆种子灌浆的生物学和基因组表征，包括种子灌浆持续时间，灌浆速率和种子大小; 2）开发用于评估大豆营养成分性状的高通量表型分析方法，并应用该方法表征种子营养成分（蛋白质，油，纤维蔗糖等）。在毛豆和成熟大豆中; 3）基于将被测序的不同种质资源和育种系的分析，检测基因组特征、QTL和/或与种子填充和种子组成调节相关的候选基因;和4）调查性状的主要基因组决定因子在现代大豆人工选择中的作用。将使用两个具有高度多样性的种质资源和育种系的大群体，并将采用全基因组关联研究（GWAS）和全基因组测序。沿着成果的公布、数据的公开、博士后和学生的培养，将对社会产生广泛而持续的影响和效益。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，通过基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响评审标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Soybean is one of the most widely grown crops worldwide and has an important role in food security and international trade. It provides a major source of plant protein and oil for human consumption as well as protein meal for animal feeds. Edamame is a vegetable soybean relatively new to North America that is harvested at the green bean stage and directly used for diet dishes or snacks. Seed filling and nutritional features are crucial for crop yield and product quality. This project will elucidate the biological and genomic features of seed filling as well as nutritional composition in edamame and mature soybeans and will identify genomic variants and causal candidate genes associated with the target traits. Rapid and efficient techniques of evaluation and genetic analysis will be used. The methodologies and research results will be used to improve STEM education, including student and next-generation scientist training as well as course teaching, and increase public scientific literacy and engagement through a showcase to different stakeholders. In addition, this project will benefit related research in grain crops, vegetables, and fruit species. The results will be valuable to a broad research and public community.Seed filling represents an economically important complex trait under genetic control that involves many functional genes and/or metabolism pathways. Preliminary observations indicate that edamame has a high level of genetic variability that contributes to soybean genetic diversity. The goal of this project is to elucidate the underlying genetic architecture and molecular mechanisms regulating seed composition and seed filling through genomic analysis of the traits in both edamame and mature soybeans. The project will specifically address: 1) biological and genomic characterization of seed filling including seed filling duration, filling rate and seed size in soybean; 2) development of a high throughput phenotyping methodology for evaluating soybean nutritional composition traits and application of the methodology to characterize seed nutritional composition (protein, oil, fiber sucrose, etc.) in edamame and mature soybeans; 3) detection of genomic features, QTL, and/or candidate genes associated with seed filling and seed composition regulation based on the analysis of diverse germplasm accessions and breeding lines which will be sequenced; and 4) investigation of the roles of the major genomic determinants of the traits in the artificial selection of modern soybeans. Two large populations of germplasm accessions and breeding lines with high diversity will be used, and genome-wide association study (GWAS) and whole genome sequencing will be employed. Along with the publication of achieved results, the generated datasets for public access, and the training of post-doc and students, this project will have a broad and sustainable impact and benefit to society.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.