Methods and compositions for altering the functional properties of seed storage proteins in soybean

摘要

The present invention provides methods and compositions useful for altering the functional properties of soybean seed storage proteins. It is the novel finding of the present invention that the functional properties of seed storage proteins can be altered by reducing the expression of one or more vacuolar processing enzymes in plant seed. Accordingly, in one embodiment, the invention provides a method for altering the functional properties of one or more soybean seed storage proteins. The method comprises transforming a soybean plant cell with at least one expression cassette capable of expressing a polynucleotide that reduces the activity of a vacuolar processing enzyme in the seed of said soybean plant, regenerating a transformed plant from the transformed plant cell, and collecting seed from the regenerated transformed plant. Plants that are genetically modified or mutagenized to alter the functional properties of one or more seed storage proteins, and the transgenic seed of such plants are also provided.