As a source of protein and biodiesel for cleaner renewable energy, soybeans are an important crop worldwide. But is it performing to its full potential? An ambitious effort led by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U. of I.) and the U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute (JGI) will sequence 400 soybean genomes to develop a "pangenome" -- an attempt to characterize all the useful diversity in the genome to create an even more robust and resilient crop.
The soybean pangenome project will sequence and analyze at least 50 soybean genomes from cultivated lines and wild relatives at reference quality, the gold standard of modern sequencing. A further 350 genomes will be sequenced as high-quality drafts by the JGI.
The plan is to include a diverse set of soybean lines, including perennial relatives and lines selected to yield in harsh conditions, preparing the industry to move toward a climate-resilient future.
Matt HudsonCourtesy of the University of Illinois
Hudson, who is also co-director of the Center for Digital Agriculture, science integration chair for the Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation (CABBI), and faculty affiliate at the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, and his multi-institution collaborators will select and grow soybean lines, shipping extracted DNA to the JGI for long-read sequencing as part of the JGI's Community Science Program.
Hudson's team, along with partners at U. of I.'s AIFARMS, will take the lead in analyzing the output.
"AIFARMS was designed to deal with large datasets coming out of agriculture projects," Hudson said. "Having this dataset is going to be a boost for our other digital ag activities."
Genetic diversity is the raw material for crop improvement
With its inclusion of wild relatives and the sheer number of reference and high-quality draft genomes set for sequencing, the project will drastically improve the current soybean reference genome. Hudson explains that genetic diversity is the raw material for crop improvement, but the crop's diversity is not reflected in the reference genome. He likens it to the first human genome, which was pieced together only from Caucasian individuals.
"There's an increasing effort to have the reference human genome reflect all of the variation in people," Hudson explained. "We think there are equally big reasons to do the same thing in crops, but it's hard to locate the missing diversity by any other means than sequencing more genomes."
The team plans to consult the global soybean breeding community, including industry partners, in deciding priority lines to include.
Ultimately, Hudson said, the project will enable deep analysis of the evolution and domestication of modern soybean and empower soybean researchers and breeders to directly select for otherwise hidden genetic variation in genes that can be targeted for variety development.
"As soybean is becoming increasingly important as a worldwide crop, as well as being a key bioenergy crop, this project will have global impact and be particularly relevant to U.S. agriculture," he concluded.
The College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has top-ranked programs, dedicated students, and world-renowned faculty and alumni who are developing solutions to the world's most critical challenges to provide abundant food and energy, a healthy environment, and successful families and communities.
