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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Functional and Applied Plant Genomics
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2025.1572319
Identification of Novel Candidate Genes for Regulating Oil Composition in Soybean Seeds under Environmental Stresses
Provisionally accepted- School of Plant and Environmental Sciences, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia, United States
A key objective of soybean breeding programs is to enhance nutritional quality for human and animal consumption, with improved fatty acid (FA) composition for health benefits, and expand soybean use for industrial applications. We conducted a metabolite genome-wide association study (mGWAS) to identify genomic regions associated with changes in FA composition and FA ratios in soybean seeds influenced by environmental factors. This mGWAS utilized 218 soybean plant introductions (PIs) grown in two field locations in Virginia over two years. The identified differences in FA composition observed between locations and years are likely due to variations in the environmental conditions. The mGWAS revealed that 20 SNPs were significantly associated with 21 FA ratios, while additional suggestive SNPs were found for 36 FA ratios, highlighting potential quantitative trait loci linked to FA composition. Many of these SNPs are located near or within the genes related to phytohormonemediated biotic and abiotic stress responses, suggesting the involvement of environmental factors in modulating FA composition in soybean seeds. Our findings provide novel insights into the genetic and environmental factors influencing FA composition in oilseeds. This research also lays the foundation for developing stable markers to develop soybean cultivars with tailored FA profiles for different practical applications under variable growth conditions.
Keywords: abiotic and biotic stresses, Fatty Acids, mGWAS, Oil composition, Phytohormone signaling, snps, Soybean seeds
Received: 06 Feb 2025; Accepted: 26 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Bewick, Forstner, Zhang and Collakova. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Patrick Bewick, School of Plant and Environmental Sciences, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, 24061, Virginia, United States
Eva Collakova, School of Plant and Environmental Sciences, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, 24061, Virginia, United States
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