Soybean proteomics and its application to functional analysis

Complete genome sequences, which are available for rice and Arabidopsis, provide insights into many fundamental aspects of plant biology; they do not, however, address some important aspects of legume biology. Legumes are important for maintenance of human health and as crops for sustainable agriculture. Two model species of legume, Lotus japonicus and Medicago truncatula, have been the focus of projects on genome sequencing and functional genomics. A project aimed at sequencing the genome of the agricultural legume soybean recently began, but functional genomics studies of this plant are in their infancy, and therefore proteomics approaches could be a powerful tool for functional analysis. In this review, we discuss the strengths and weaknesses of proteomics technologies in soybean biology and we examine the limitations of current techniques.