Ling  Jin

Northwest A&F University, Xianyang, 712100, Shaanxi, China
Author    Correspondence author
Bioscience Methods, 2026, Vol. 17, No. 5   
Received: 18 Aug., 2026    Accepted: 22 Sep., 2026    Published: 07 Oct., 2026

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Soybean ( Glycine max L.) is one of the most important global crops, serving as a primary source of plant-based protein and vegetable oil for food, feed, and industrial applications. The accumulation of storage proteins and oils during seed development is a highly dynamic physiological process regulated by genetic programs, metabolic pathways, and environmental conditions. Understanding the temporal patterns and regulatory mechanisms of protein and oil deposition is essential for improving soybean nutritional quality and optimizing breeding strategies. This review systematically summarizes the dynamic changes in protein and oil contents throughout soybean seed development, with emphasis on developmental stages, physiological regulation, and molecular mechanisms underlying storage compound accumulation. During seed filling, protein accumulation is primarily controlled by nitrogen assimilation, amino acid transport, and storage protein biosynthesis, whereas oil accumulation depends on carbon metabolism, fatty acid synthesis, and triacylglycerol assembly. The interaction between carbon and nitrogen metabolism determines the balance between protein and oil contents, resulting in a complex trade-off relationship that influences soybean quality formation. Furthermore, this review discusses the effects of environmental factors, including temperature, water availability, and nutrient management, on seed composition dynamics. Recent advances in multi-omics technologies, high-throughput phenotyping, and machine learning approaches have provided new insights into the prediction and regulation of soybean seed quality. A case study is presented to illustrate how genotype-environment interactions influence protein and oil accumulation patterns under contrasting cultivation conditions. Finally, future perspectives are proposed, focusing on integrating molecular breeding, precision agriculture, and digital technologies to achieve coordinated improvement of soybean yield, protein content, and oil quality. This comprehensive understanding of dynamic storage compound accumulation provides a theoretical foundation for developing high-quality soybean varieties and sustainable production systems.

Soybean seed development; Protein accumulation; Oil biosynthesis; Carbon-nitrogen metabolism; Seed quality regulation