Recent Developments of Genomic Research in Soybean

Soybean is an important cash crop with unique and important traits such as the high seed protein and oil contents, and the ability to perform symbiotic nitrogen fixation. A reference genome of cultivated soybeans was established in 2010, followed by whole-genome re-sequencing of wild and cultivated soybean accessions. These efforts revealed unique features of the soybean genome and helped to understand its evolution. Mapping of variations between wild and cultivated soybean genomes were performed. These genomic variations may be related to the process of domestication and human selection. Wild soybean germplasms exhibited high genomic diversity and hence may be an important source of novel genes/alleles. Accumulation of genomic data will help to refine genetic maps and expedite the identification of functional genes. In this review, we summarize the major findings from the whole-genome sequencing projects and discuss the possible impacts on soybean researches and breeding programs. Some emerging areas such as transcriptomic and epigenomic studies will be introduced. In addition, we also tabulated some useful bioinformatics tools that will help the mining of the soybean genomic data.