Context and objectives of SOYADAPT

Given their ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen, the development of legume crops is essential to the agro-ecological transition. Soy is an important source of protein for animal and human food.

France imports soybean massively because it is not self-sufficient in locally produced soy. To reduce this dependence and to ensure the growth forecasts in light of new culture areas due to climate change, it is necessary to create non GM (Genetically Modified) varieties adapted to the European climates (early varieties, MG00-000) which will support the expansion towards the north while meeting the future food needs. Yield must be optimized by avoiding detrimental stressful conditions around harvest, especially since these stresses will increase in severity with climate change. This strategy is based on early sowing, which requires the creation of genotypes that are tolerant to climatic hazards, particularly low temperatures during seed imbibition.

The objective of SOYADAPT is to adapt soybeans to early sowing to facilitate their development on the European market. To achieve this, the lever used is a two-fold approach: 1) the creation of new non-GM genetic diversity by mutagenesis (EMS and Fast Neutron) of an early maturity genotype, and (2) the screening of mutant populations for candidate genes via a reverse genetic approach, TILLING (Targeting Induced Local Lesions in Genomes) in order to find and characterize relevant alleles for the optimization of sowing under cold conditions. The mutant population will be made accessible to the scientific community. PlantAlliance members interested in using this resource for other purposes are invited to contact the coordinator.

Partners

• UMR-IRHS Institut de Recherche en Horticulture et semences (Julia Buitink, SEED teram) : coordinator of the SOYADAPT project.
• UMR Institut des sciences des plantes Paris-Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette (Marion Dalmais).
• RAGT 2n (Laurent Gervais)
• LIDEA - France (Patrice Jeanson)