Gene Expression Changes in the Development of the Soybean Seed-Globular Stage

We investigated soybean seed development because (1) soybean seeds are a major source of food and fuel, (2) soybean seeds have been an excellent system for studying the basic processes controlling seed development for over three decades, and (3) new soybean genomic resources, including the sequence of the soybean genome and the gene expression profiles for all seed compartments, tissues, and cell types, can be used to gain new insights into the regulatory processes required for seed differentiation. We sequenced messenger RNA populations of specific soybean seed compartments, which will provide new insights into gene expression that are important for “making a soybean seed.” Eight compartments of the globular stage of the soybean seeds were analyzed. Three or four biological replicates were collected for each compartment.