Elevated Soybean Seed Oil Phenotype Associated with a Single Nucleotide Polymorphism in GmNFR1α

Soybean seed composition, particularly the oil and protein content of the seed, has been a longstanding focus of research due to the economic and nutritional importance of these components for both feed and industrial applications. Through forward genetic screening of a mutagenized population derived from the soybean cultivar Williams-82, a mutant line designated PID 17238 was identified for high seed oil content. This phenotype is associated with a decrease in levels of protein with respect to Williams-82. The phenotype was mapped to chromosome 2 to a region near Satt459. Fine mapping and whole-genome resequencing were used to identify the causative mutation. Analysis of the resequencing data within the candidate region uncovered 55 sequence variants. <i>Glyma.02G270800</i> contained a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) within the coding sequence. <i>Glyma.02G270800</i> encodes a lysin motif (LysM) receptor-like kinase previously reported in the literature as <i>GmNFR1α</i>. Importantly, this locus is allelic to the well-characterized <i>rj1</i> locus, a recessive mutation known to cause a non-nodulating phenotype in soybean. Nodulation in soybeans, which enables nitrogen fixation, is crucial for protein synthesis in seeds, and the lack of nodulation may explain the lower protein content in PID 17238.