Biotech Updates

Outstanding Stress Resistance Found in Swedish Soybeans

August 5, 2011

U.S. Department of Agriculture geneticists searched for the sources of tolerance to ozone and other stresses in the American ancestors of soybeans. They found that the Fiskeby soybeans from the northern part of Sweden have outstanding tolerance for salt, high levels of ozone, drought, iron deficiency, and toxic levels of aluminum.

Scientists Tommy Carter and Kent Burkley analyzed thousands of soybean types to generate the family tree of North American soybeans. The Swedish soybeans have the most pronounced resistance to ozone compared to the other stresses. Understanding the ozone effect may be a key to discovering the broad stress resistance of the Swedish soybeans.

Read the media release at http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2011/110729.htm.