Role of L- histidine in protein-oil relationship in soybean seed

Abstract

In soybean, negative correlation between protein and oil is well documented but it is poorly explained. Three F2 and F2:3 populations were developed, crossing between one high protein line and three high yielding genotypes. Based on protein content, from each F2 population (approximately 150 lines per population) were selected ten high protein (HP) and ten low protein (LP) lines and amino acid analysis performed on F2:3 lines. Two of three populations have high negative correlation between protein and oil content (-0.81 and - 0.82), while in one population this negative correlation was weak (- 0.42). Among all analyzed amino acids, only content of L- histidine follow similar pattern. In populations with high negative protein-oil correlation, L- histidine was significantly lower in HP lines. On the other hand, in population with weak negative protein-oil correlation, content of L- histidine increased in HP lines.