Developing transgenic grains with improved oils, proteins and carbohydrates

DuPont has developed cereals and oilseeds with improved proteins, carbohydrates, and oils for food, feed, and industrial applications. Products which have been or will be introduced include corn and soybeans with increased oil content, improved oil composition, increased amino acid content, altered protein content and functional qualities, altered starch composition, reduced oligosaccharide content, increased sucrose content, and combinations of these traits. These products have been developed using both mutation breeding and molecular biology-based transgenic approaches. We have also worked on improving the underlying technologies in order to accelerate product introductions. Gene discovery has been expedited through a genomics program that now has a database of more than two million sequences from a variety of plants, insects and microbes. Plant cell transformation for elite lines of crop species is being addressed through production laboratories with high throughput processes and through technology improvements. High-throughput, rapid and small-scale assays for biochemical parameters are used to identify plants carrying traits of interest. Small-scale functionality analyses, in which grains are broken down into their component parts and assayed for functional properties, indicate which seeds carry a trait of commercial value. Finally, a number of DNA marker systems are being used to accelerate trait introgression timelines.