Alternation Of Soybean Maturation Time Using Transgenic Approaches

Transgenic technology is critical for the functional study of soybean genes and for the transgenic breeding in soybean. Although several soybean transformation methods have been reported previously, almost all of those methods are dependent on specific cultivars(race). The race dependency of the soybean transformation method significantly limits its application in the attempt to improve currently available cultivars and its agriculture applications. In the present study, we systematically compared several previously published or unpublished methods in elite cultivars currently used in China, including cotyledon method, half-seed method, pollen tube method, and direct apex transformation method(DAT). We found that the DAT method has a transformation efficiency of about 0.1-0.3ï¼…, which is the highest in comparison to all the other methods tested. Importantly, because there is tissue culture step involved in DAT method, it should have the potential to be used in the transformation of different soybean cultivars.