Factors affecting the concentration of health-promoting phytochemicals in soybean

大豆[Glycine max（L.）梅尔。]含有高浓度的芦荟酮和皂苷，这两者都具有推定的有益健康的特性。仅大豆异黄酮在北美的市场价值就达5亿美元。该研究计划旨在了解影响大豆中皂苷和甾酮浓度的因素。具体而言，我们将使用统计分析来研究环境因素的影响，以将大豆异黄酮和皂苷浓度与一系列环境变量（即，土壤特性、气候条件等）。我们还将确定特定的生长阶段是否对特定的环境因素最敏感，重点是空气温度和土壤湿度的影响，据报道，这些因素会显著影响大豆中的草甘膦浓度。在这些研究中，我们将使用HPLC观察几种胁迫处理对大豆皂苷和皂苷浓度以及基因表达的影响。我们将应用实时荧光定量PCR技术来定量处理后大豆生长发育的不同阶段中与苯丙氨酸解氨酶（PAL）、查尔酮合酶（CHS）、查尔酮还原酶（PAL）、查尔酮合酶（IFS）、丙二酰转移酶（MT）和葡萄糖基转移酶（GT）的合成有关的基因的转录水平。我们将试图建立大豆组织中植物化学物质的水平与它们各自的基因表达之间的关系。本实验室以前的工作已经证明，激发子化合物如壳聚糖可以用来操纵大豆中的异黄酮的浓度和分布。该项目将在这些发现的基础上，通过研究激发子化合物（包括壳聚糖和茉莉酸甲酯）的潜在用途来增加大豆皂苷浓度。最终，这项研究将有助于开发新的增值市场，并为加拿大农业生产者和相关农业产业创造经济机会。

Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] contains high concentrations of isoflavones and saponins, which both have putative health-beneficial properties. The North American market value for soybean isoflavones alone is of 500 million $. The proposed research program aims at providing an understanding of the factors affecting the concentrations of isoflavones and saponins in soybean. Specifically we will study the impact of environmental factors using statistical analyses to relate soybean isoflavones and saponin concentrations to a range of environmental variables (i.e., soil characteristics, climatic conditions, etc...). We will also determine if particular growth stages are most responsive to specific environmental factors, focusing on the impact of air temperature and soil moisture, which were reported to significantly affect isoflavone concentrations in soybean. In these studies we will look at the impact of several stress treatments on soybean isoflavone and saponin concentrations using HPLC, as well as gene expression. We will apply real-time QRT-PCR technology to quantify transcript levels of genes involved in isoflavone synthesis including phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL), chalcone synthase (CHS), chalcone reductase (CHR), isoflavone synthase (IFS), malonyl transferase (MT), and glucosyl transferase (GT) at different stages of soybean growth development following treatments. We will attempt to establish a relation between the levels of phytochemicals found in soybean tissues with their respective gene expression. Previous work in our laboratory has demonstrated that elicitor compounds such as chitosan could be used to manipulate concentration and profile of isoflavones in soybean. This program will build on these findings by investigating the potential use of elicitor compounds including chitosan and methyl jasmonate to increase soybean saponin concentrations. Ultimately, this research could contribute to the development of new value-added markets and create economic opportunities for Canadian agricultural producers and associated agri-industries.