West Lafayette, IN, USA - April 28, 2024

A team led by Purdue University soybean geneticist Jianxin Ma has discovered two unusual genes that control many valuable traits in soybeans. This groundbreaking research opens up new possibilities for using wild soybean genetic diversity to improve cultivated varieties.

Ma's team has developed a biotech tool called de novo domestication that allows scientists to speed up the process of incorporating desirable traits from wild soybeans into cultivated varieties.

Newly discovered genes, known as long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) genes, have a remarkable property: they control multiple traits despite sharing the same genetic locus. Traditionally, one gene controls one trait, making this discovery unprecedented in plant genetics.

Collaborating with researchers from Purdue and other institutions in the United States and China, Ma's team has introduced the first lncRNA genes in any domesticated plant or animal species that can be used for human breeding.

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