SDSU researchers working to edit soybean genome

Soybeans are the world’s fourth-most grown crop and are used for foods like tofu and soy-based products, but are primarily grown for animal feed. In South Dakota, the 223-million bushels grown in 2023 were valued at over 2.76 billion dollars, per the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

USDA projections show the global trade of soybeans is likely to increase by as much as 22% in the coming years. As the need for soybeans increases, South Dakota State University researchers are looking at ways to improve the crop’s value and productivity for farmers in the region. 

One of the reasons soybeans have become a multibillion-dollar industry and a staple in crop rotations throughout the U.S. is the plant’s ability to take nitrogen from the atmosphere, fix it in the plant’s root structures, and then use it as a nutrient. This cuts down on input costs and also reduces the management needs of the crop.

But for some high yield varieties, when the soybean plant reaches later growth stages, they are unable to supply the necessary amount of nitrogen due to the accumulation of storage proteins in seeds. To offset this, farmers apply environmentally harmful and energy-intensive synthetic fertilizers to ensure the crop is meeting its nitrogen needs.

SDSU College of Natural Science researchers believe they may have a solution. They hypothesize that by delaying the maturity of root nodules in soybean plants, the natural process of biological nitrogen fixation could continue to meet the plant’s nutrient needs later in the growth cycle. 

To find the desired traits, the SDSU researchers will genetically edit the genome sequences of the soybean plant with CRISPR. Once the researchers have identified the desired genetic variants, they will work with soybean breeders to incorporate these traits into elite, high-yield soybean cultivars.

This two-year, $300,000 project, is being funded through a grant from the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture