Scientists from the National Soybean Biotechnology Center at the University of Missouri (MU) are spearheading an effort to coordinate soybean research - and research dollars.

Dozens of soybean scientists from MU, the University of Illinois and other schools, agencies and businesses will gather in St. Louis on Dec. 16-17 to plan a grant proposal for the Soybean Coordinated Agricultural Project, or SoyCAP.

Multimillion-dollar Coordinated Agricultural Project (CAP) awards from the U.S. Department of Agriculture are designed to promote cooperation and communication in applied plant genomics research. With a $12,000 planning grant, the MU National Center for Soybean Biotechnology is organizing and hosting this weekÌs event.

"The CAP awards are for coordinated agricultural projects," said Gary Stacey, MU endowed professor of functional genomics. "You have people doing basic research and people doing applied research, and they don't really seem to talk the same language. We want to make things like plant genomics research rapidly available to people like the soybean breeders, who can actually help the farmers."

The fiscal 2004 CAP award focused on large-scale rice genomics for U.S. agriculture. For 2005, "the particular crop has not been identified, so it's sort of a free-for all," Stacey said. "We want to stress the coming together of the scientists, tackling problems and building consensus."

He anticipates about 35 soybean researchers will gather at the Crown Plaza Hotel. "They'll be from all the soybean growing regions of the United States, representing government agencies, several universities and a number of corporations," including Pioneer Hybrids, Monsanto, SoyGenetics and Genaissance Pharmaceuticals. Associations such as the United Soybean Board will also send their scientists to the meeting.

"This meeting will represent the whole soybean community," Stacey said. "If we come up with a proposal and it gets funded, it would be a million dollars a year for up to five years. Because it's a collaborative effort, no one is going to get wealthy."

The scientists will first try to decide which areas of soybean research are most critical and "have the greatest potential to impact the farmers," he said.

Among the expected topics are pathogens that attack soybeans, like the soybean rust fungus that was recently detected for the first time in the continental United States. "That will clearly be a major point of discussion," Stacey said. "But there are also areas of abiotic stress, such as drought, that will be discussed in detail."

"Drought is a very complicated, intractable problem that involves the interaction of several genes," he said. "It might be an appropriate area for this kind of public effort."

Other issues could be reducing allergens in soybean-based livestock feed, efforts to reduce trans-fatty acids in soybeans, increasing soybeans' nutritional level or maximizing specialty traits.

"The idea is that on the first day, we'll talk about these subjects in detail," Stacey said. "The next day, we have to focus on the most important issues. We know we can't cover the whole waterfront."

He anticipates "a lot of open and frank exchanges. The discussions might be heated. But ultimately, we expect to develop a consensus - to get everyone pulling the oars in the same direction."

For more information about the conference or the SoyCAP program, log onto http://digbio.missouri.edu/soycap/.