Soybean Plants with Low Linolenic Acid and High Yield
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current soybean varieties with low linolenic acid content suffer from poor seed yield and agronomic traits, making them unsuitable for commercial production, while high-yielding varieties often have high linolenic acid levels, posing health risks due to trans fatty acid production during hydrogenation.
Innovation Solution
Development of soybean plants with a mid/low-linolenic acid content (1-3% by weight) and commercially significant yield through genetic markers linked to Fad3-1b and Fad3-1c alleles, allowing for marker-assisted selection and breeding to combine desirable traits like herbicide tolerance and disease resistance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-generated harmful factors
If soybean varieties with low linolenic acid content are developed through mutation and breeding, then linolenic acid content is reduced, but seed yield and agronomic characteristics deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by modifying the linolenic acid content parameter through specific breeding programs while simultaneously optimizing yield parameters. The invention achieves this by selecting for specific genetic markers associated with low linolenic acid content while maintaining or improving yield through controlled breeding and selection processes, thus changing the parameter values to achieve both low linolenic acid (1-3%) and high yield simultaneously
2Reliability
If soybean oil undergoes hydrogenation to lower linolenic acid level, then stability and flavor are improved, but trans fatty acids are produced which increase coronary heart disease risk
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the 'blessing in disguise' principle by converting the harmful effect of high linolenic acid (which causes instability and requires hydrogenation) into a benefit by breeding varieties with naturally low linolenic acid content. This eliminates the need for hydrogenation processing, thereby avoiding trans fatty acid production while maintaining oil stability through genetic modification rather than chemical processing
3Productivity
If high yielding soybean varieties are selected, then seed yield is improved, but linolenic acid content increases which reduces oil stability
Solution Approach 1:
The patent simultaneously optimizes multiple parameters by selecting for genetic markers associated with both high yield and low linolenic acid content. Through marker-assisted selection and controlled breeding, the invention changes the parameter values to achieve high seed yield while maintaining low linolenic acid content (1-3%), thereby improving both productivity and oil stability without the traditional trade-off
Data Source
AI summary
The invention overcomes the deficiencies of the prior art by providing methods for marker assisted selection to create plants of a soybean variety that exhibit a mid/low linolenic acid content with a commercially significant yield and an agronomically elite phenotype. The invention also provides derivatives and plant parts of these plants. Further provided by the invention are methods for the use of these plants. The invention is significant in that oil with decreased linolenic acid exhibits numerous beneficial characteristics yet prior art varieties with decreased linolenic acid also exhibited decreased yield and poor agronomic quality.