Development of soybean experimental lines with enhanced protein and sulfur amino acid content

Soybean is the preferred protein source for both poultry and swine feed. However, this preferred status is being challenged due to competition from alternative feed ingredients. To overcome this, it becomes necessary for breeders to develop soybean cultivars that contain higher protein and better nutritional composition. In this study, we have developed experimental soybean lines that not only contain significantly higher amounts of protein but also improved sulfur amino acid content. This objective was achieved by crossing a O-acetylserine sulfhydrylase (OASS) overexpressing transgenic soybean line with elevated levels of sulfur amino acid content (CS) with a high protein Korean soybean cultivar (Lee 5). Introgression of high protein and overexpression of OASS was monitored in the experimental lines at each successive generation (F2-F6) by measuring protein content and OASS activity. The average protein content of transgenic CS and Lee 5 seeds were 34.8 % and 44.7 %, while in the experimental soybean lines the protein content ranged from 41.3 %–47.7 %, respectively. HPLC and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry analyses revealed that all the experimental lines developed in this study contained significantly higher amounts of sulfur containing amino acids and elemental sulfur in the seeds. The sulfur amino acid (cysteine + methionine) content of the experimental lines ranged from 1.1 % to 1.26 % while the parents Lee 5 and CS had 0.79 % and 1.1 %, respectively. SDS-PAGE and western blot analysis demonstrated that the accumulation of Bowman-Birk protease inhibitor and lunasin, two sulfur amino acid rich peptides, were elevated in experimental soybean lines. High-resolution 2D-gel electrophoresis and Delta2D gel analysis validated that an overall increase in the different subunits of 7S β-conglycinin and 11S glycinin were mainly responsible for the observed increase in the total amount of protein in experimental lines.