Hybrid vigor, the phenomenon in which offspring outperform both of their parents, is used to sustainably boost crop yields. Soybean is a self-fertilizing plant that is unable to capture the benefits of hybrid breeding. We will use a biotechnology approach to make a few key alterations to the soybean flower that will transform soybean from an inbred into a hybrid crop. Ultimately, these changes will help soybean growers produce 10-20% more soybean on the same amount of land, providing a sustainable solution for meeting the increasing demands of a growing world population.

The deliverables include the generation of lines that will contribute to the delivery of a hybrid seed production system for soybean. Seeds for these lines will be made publicly available to the research community. In addition, we anticipate that this work will result in at least one high-impact publication.

Updated January 12, 2021:
March 15, 2020 Report
Hybrid vigor, the phenomenon in which offspring outperform both of their parents, is used to sustainably boost crop yields. Soybean is a self-fertilizing plant that is unable to capture the benefits of hybrid breeding. We will use a biotechnology approach to make a few key alterations to the soybean flower that will transform soybean from an inbred into a hybrid crop. Ultimately, these changes will help soybean growers produce 10-20% more soybean on the same amount of land, providing a sustainable solution for meeting the increasing demands of a growing world population. We are working on a two-step modification to the soybean flower, which will allow us to: (1) transform soybean from an inbreeding to a uni-generational, obligate outcrossing crop; and (2) re-engineer soybean flowers with key visual and biochemical traits that attract pollinators.

First, we will block self-fertilization by engineering single-generation male sterility into soybean using a system called Barnase/Barstar. The second step of our hybrid seed production strategy involves modifying the soybean flower so that it is attractive to bee pollinators. We have identified candidate genes that control each of these traits in soybean. We will focus on enhancing the function of these genes in soybean - in essence transforming the soybean flower from a small, self-pollinating system, into a bee-pollinated crop.

If successful, it could pave the way to develop hybrid soybean for growers. This would likely take additional breeding steps and perhaps development of newer technologies.