Screening the USDA Glycine Soja Collection for Presence or Absence of a Seed Lectin¹

Abstract

The USDA Glycine soja Sieb. & Zucc. collection containing 559 accessions was screened for the presence or absence of a seed lectin. Nearly one‐half (49%) of the G. soja accessions were found to lack this seed lectin. The seed lectin from G. soja and the cultivated soybean [ G. max (L.) Merrill] exhibited antigenic homology and migrated to identical positions in polyacrylamide gels. This suggests that the lectins of the two species are very similar or the same. Accessions of G. soja lacking seed lectin nodulated normally when compared with accessions containing seed lectin.