Temporal changes in metabolism late in seed development affect biomass composition in soybean

Abstract

The inverse correlation between protein and oil production in soybeans is well-documented; however, it has been based primarily on the composition of mature seeds. Though this is the cumulative result of events over the course of soybean seed development, it does not convey information specific to metabolic fluctuations during developmental growth regimes. Maternal nutrient supply via seed coat exudate measurements and metabolite levels within the cotyledon were assessed across development to identify trends in the accumulation of central carbon and nitrogen metabolic intermediates. Active metabolic operation during late seed development was probed through transient labeling with 13C substrates. The results indicated: i) a drop in lipid during seed maturation with a concomitant increase in carbohydrates, ii) a transition from seed filling to maturation phase characterized by quantitatively balanced changes in the carbon use and CO2 release, iii) changes in measured carbon and nitrogen resources supplied maternally over development, iv) 13C metabolites processed through gluconeogenesis towards sustained carbohydrate accumulation as the maternal nutrient supply diminishes, and v) oligosaccharide biosynthetic metabolism during seed coat senescence at maturation. These results highlight temporal engineering targets for altering final biomass composition to increase the value of soybeans and a path to breaking the inverse seed protein and oil correlation. One-sentence summaryAssessment of temporal changes in metabolism during soybean seed development indicated that lipid turnover during maturation contributes carbon for gluconeogenic production of carbohydrates.