This project is about facilitating enhanced breeding and understanding of ways to accelerate the improvement of soybean to meet current and future needs. Our approach is to leverage the vast amount of genomic data being produced for soybean by developing strategies and easy to use bioinformatics tools to link key characteristics to the genes that control them. We have made considerable progress in generating those strategies and tools, making them accessible to researchers, publishing research articles, conducting outreach through presentations and workshops, and including user-feedback in updating the system as well as undertaking new objectives. Within this project, we accomplished all the proposed objectives. We upgraded our existing tools, built new tools (Allele Catalog, GenVarX, AccuTool, MaDis), we hosted webinars and workshops, we created a GWAS to Genes SoyHub platform for soybean breeders and we began utilizing a feedback loop with the users for additional improvement and identification of new targets.

The benefit to farmers is new seed genetics that provide this value and build the U.S. Soy reputation. We proposed to conduct research to expand our applied soybean genomics program to target more complex traits and engage the soybean research community to utilize our new tools and technologies to explore novel paths to enhance soybean seed quality and agronomics that also meet market demands. The research has a long-term goal of informing the rapid development of new soybean varieties that combine quality oil and meal while maintaining genetic gain for seed yield. Our project aligns with the Reputation and Differentiation value-building goals. The reputation of U.S. Soy as a source of sustainable and functional oil and high-quality meal with desirable protein content plus metabolizable energy, is paramount to delivering value throughout the soybean value chain. Research to address the seed protein/oil/yield paradox through an applied genomics strategy is an avenue to both build positively on the U.S. Soy reputation as well as differentiate U.S. Soy as a consistent sustainable source of quality oil and meal products.