High Isoflavone Content Of Soybean Transferred Gene Callus

Soy-isoflavones arose more and more attention these years for their multiple potential benefits both in plants and human bodies, they share the similar chemical structure with human endogenous estradiol to function as estrogen mimics and so termed as phytoeatrogens which play an important role in prevention of breast and prostate cancer, cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis. By applying the Agrobacterium-mediated soybean transformation method, the isoflavone synthase (IFS) gene which under the seed specific promoter and terminator was successfully transferred into the callus of elite Korean soybean cultivars using the pCAMBIA1301 binary vector, expecting high production of isoflavonoids. The well transformed callus cell lines were obtained by comparing the different conditions of callus induction and subculture methods. The gene transformation was confirmed by GUS assay, genomic PCR and RT-PCR. Finally, the isoflavone contents of the transformed callus were analysised by HPLC and the total amount of isoflavones proved to be 3-7 times higher than the control callus and the seeds with different daidzein to genistein ratios. As soybean is a widely consumed dietary field crop, this research may find broad uses in soya cell culture as an alternative source to soybean to provide high concentrations of isoflavones.