Soybean Seed and Oil Compositions and Methods of Making Same

A method of obtaining a soybean plant with an altered seed oil fatty acid composition comprising the steps of:

• a) crossing a first soybean parent line having a seed oil fatty acid composition comprising a linolenic acid content of 3% or less of total seed fatty acids by weight with a second soybean parent line having a seed oil fatty acid composition wherein the i) level of oleic acid is from 55% to 79% of total seed fatty acids by weight, or ii) wherein both the level of saturated fatty acid is 8% or less of total seed fatty acids by weight and the level of oleic acid is from 55% to 79% of total seed fatty acids by weight, said second soybean parent line comprising either a transgene that decreases the expression of an endogenous soybean FAD2-1 gene to provide the level of oleic acid from 55% to 79% of total seed fatty acids by weight of said second parent soybean line of (i);
• or both a transgene that decreases the expression of an endogenous soybean FATB gene and a transgene that decreases the expression of an endogenous soybean FAD2-1 gene to provide the level of saturated fatty acid of 8% or less by weight and the level of oleic acid from 55% to 79% of total seed fatty acids by weight of said second parent soybean line of (ii);
• and
• b) selecting a progeny plant exhibiting a seed oil fatty acid composition comprising a linolenic acid content of 3% or less of total fatty acids by weight and also comprising either i) an oleic acid level in the range of 70% to 79% of total seed fatty acids by weight, or ii) both a saturated fatty acid level of 8% or less of total seed fatty acids by weight and an oleic acid level of 70% to 79% of total seed fatty acids by weight, thereby obtaining a soybean plant with an altered seed oil fatty acid composition.

A seed of a soybean plant, said seed comprising:

• (i) a transgene comprising a fragment of at least 40 nucleotides of a soybean FAD2-1 coding or non-coding region of SEQ ID NO:4 that is shorter than the entire sequence of an entire FAD2-1 gene, exon, intron, transit peptide coding region, or UTR and that decreases the expression of an endogenous soybean FAD2-1 gene;
• and,
• (ii) a loss of function mutation in an endogenous soybean FAD3 gene of SEQ ID NO:61 and in an endogenous FAD3 gene of SEQ ID NO:62;
• said seed having a fatty acid composition comprising a linolenic acid content of 0.5 to 3% of total seed fatty acids by weight, a saturated fatty acid content of 10% to 15% of total seed fatty acids by weight, and an oleic acid content of 55% to 78% of total seed fatty acids by weight.

A seed of a soybean plant, said seed comprising:

• (i) a transgene comprising a fragment of at least 40 nucleotides of a soybean FAD2-1 coding or non-coding region of SEQ ID NO:4 that is shorter than the entire sequence of an entire FAD2-1 gene, exon, intron, transit peptide coding region, or UTR and that decreases the expression of an endogenous soybean FAD2-1 gene;
• (ii) a transgene comprising a fragment of at least 40 nucleotides of a soybean FATB coding or non-coding region of SEQ ID NO:28 that decreases the expression of an endogenous soybean FATB gene;
• and,
• (ii) a loss of function mutation in an endogenous soybean FAD3 gene of SEQ ID NO:61 and in an endogenous FAD3 gene of SEQ ID NO:62;
• said seed having a fatty acid composition comprising a linolenic acid content of 0.5 to 3% of total seed fatty acids by weight, a saturated fatty acid content of about 2% to 8% of total seed fatty acids by weight, and an oleic acid content of 55% to 78% of total seed fatty acids by weight.