Preface Hon-Ming Lam and Man-Wah Li 1. Genomic research on soybean and its impact on molecular breeding Man-Wah Li, Bingjun Jiang, Tianfu Han, Guohong Zhang and Hon-Ming Lam 2. Regulation of flowering and maturation in soybean Zhihong Hou, Baohui Liu and Fanjiang Kong 3. Root physiology and morphology of soybean in relation to stress tolerance Yinglong Chen, Zhili Wang, Heng Ye, Shuo Liu, Henry T. Nguyen, Hon-Ming Lam and Kadambot H.M. Siddique 4. Inheritance and prevention of soybean root rot Haijian Zhi and Dagang Wang 5. Insights into soybean with high photosynthetic efficiency Qinzhen Xu, Xiao Liu, Chunyang Zhang, Weiguang Du, Yuefeng Guan and Wenqiang Yang 6. Soybean CLE peptides and their CLAVATA-like signaling pathways Candice H. Jones, April H. Hastwell, Peter M. Gresshoff and Brett J. Ferguson 7. Redox metabolism in soybean and its significance in nitrogen-fixing nodules Karl J. Kunert and Christine H. Foyer 8. Pursuing greener farming by clarifying legume-insect pest interactions and developing marker-assisted molecular breeding Satyanarayana Taddi, Kejing Fan, Yi Ying Huang, Fuk Ling Wong, Ho Yin Yip, Jerome H.L. Hui and Hon-Ming Lam 9. Genetic regulations of the oil and protein contents in soybean seeds and strategies for improvement Ailin Liu, Sau-Shan Cheng, Wai-Shing Yung, Man-Wah Li and Hon-Ming Lam 10. Soybean secondary metabolites and flavors: The art of compromise among climate, natural enemies, and human culture Yee-Shan Ku, Ming-Sin Ng, Sau-Shan Cheng, Ching-Yee Luk, Ndiko Ludidi, Gyuhwa Chung, Shwu-Pyng T. Chen and Hon-Ming Lam 11. Seed morphology in soybean Lianjun Sun and Zhihui Yuan
Prof. Hon-Ming Lam, Professor of the School of Life Sciences, and the Director of the national-level State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology is also leading the RGC Area of Excellence Center for Genomic Studies on Plant-Environment Interaction for Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security (2017-2025). For the past two decades, he embarked upon soybean genomics studies, carried out impressive work, and achieved world-class excellence in terms of research achievements and innovations. He has published more than 160 peer-reviewed journal papers. His groundbreaking discoveries include the first application of whole-genome sequence analysis to reveal the genome diversity of wild soybeans (published as a cover story on Nature Genetics in 2010), setting up a novel technology platform for identification of the major causal gene for salt tolerance in soybean (published in Nature Communications in 2014), and completing the assembly of the first reference genome of a wild soybean accession (published in Nature Communications in 2019). Together with his other high-impact publications, Prof. Lam has been recognized as a prominent leader in the international soybean research arena. Besides scientific achievements, it is also exciting to see that his soybean research has gone beyond basic science. He successfully integrated the state-of-the-art technology from academics and the traditional wisdom from breeders for the development of stress-tolerant soybean cultivars and obtained official approval to release them to the farmers in NW China at no cost. His project has made a strong social and economic impact not only because of safeguarding food security and boosting economic benefits for underprivileged smallholder farms in arid and semi-arid areas but the introduction of a low-carbon green economy, scientific-industrial partnership model.