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Genetic and chemical analysis of a key biosynthetic step for soyasapogenol A, an aglycone of group A saponins that influence soymilk flavor

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Abstract

Although certain saponins in soybean seeds have been reported to have health benefits, group A acetyl saponins cause undesirable bitter and astringent tastes in soy products. Therefore, reduction or elimination of group A saponins is an important target for soybean breeders. A wide survey of cultivated and wild soybean germplasm identified a mutant line that lacked group A saponins. The absence of soyasapogenol A, a group A saponin aglycone, is controlled by a single recessive allele, sg-5 that mapped genetically near the SSR marker, Satt117, on soybean chromosome 15 (linkage group E). The locus is epistatic to Sg-1, which controls the terminal sugar variation on the C-22 sugar chain of soyasapogenol A, and allelic differences at this locus lead to changes in the amount of DDMP saponins and their derivatives group B and E products. These findings provide a new insight into the biosynthetic pathway of soybean saponins, and identify a genetic approach that can be applied to improve the quality of foods produced from soybean.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. Okubo (Tohoku University) and Dr. Shimamoto (Hokkaido University) for providing private germplasm collections. This work was supported by a grant from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries of Japan (Research Project for Utilizing Advanced Technologies in Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, 18063) as well as, in part, by the Program for Promotion of Basic and Applied Researches for Innovations in Bio-oriented Industry (BRAIN). We thank Dr. Niels C. Nielsen (Professor Emeritus, Purdue University) for critically reading this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO) Western Region Agricultural Research Center, 1-3-1 Senyu, Zentsuji, Kagawa, 765-8508, Japan

    Yoshitake Takada

  2. Graduate School of Agriculture, Iwate University, 3-18-8 Ueda, Morioka, Iwate, 020-8550, Japan

    Hiroko Sasama & Chigen Tsukamoto

  3. NARO Tohoku Region Agricultural Research Center, 297 Uenodai, Kariwano, Daisen, Akita, 019-2112, Japan

    Yoshitake Takada, Akio Kikuchi & Shin Kato

  4. National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences (NIAS), 2-1-2 Kannondai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8602, Japan

    Hiroko Sasama, Takashi Sayama & Masao Ishimoto

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  1. Yoshitake Takada
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  2. Hiroko Sasama
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  4. Akio Kikuchi
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  5. Shin Kato
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  7. Chigen Tsukamoto
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Correspondence to Chigen Tsukamoto.

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Communicated by I. Rajcan.

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Takada, Y., Sasama, H., Sayama, T. et al. Genetic and chemical analysis of a key biosynthetic step for soyasapogenol A, an aglycone of group A saponins that influence soymilk flavor. Theor Appl Genet 126, 721–731 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-012-2013-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-012-2013-5

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