Agricultural Biotechnology: The State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology, Salt-Tolerant Soybeans, and the Journey from Gene to Gansu's Saline-Alkali Soils

The most compelling aspect of CUHK's salt-tolerant soybean research is that it was actually planted in the ground — Hong Kong's basic research (gene discovery), mainland China's breeding collaboration (variety development), and actual cultivation in the saline-alkali soils of the northwest (industrial application) form a rare, complete chain. This article is a factual archive for the reference section (04 Research), carrying no credibility badges, with each claim linked to academic or official sources. The scholars mentioned are public figures, named factually based on public information. It first introduces the institution that houses this research — the State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology (SKLA) — then unfolds the research journey from gene to field, and even to space.

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# 1. The Problem: Saline-Alkali Soils and Food Security

Large tracts of farmland worldwide have been degraded by salinisation and can no longer support conventional crops. Could salt-tolerant soybean varieties be bred to bring such land back into production? This question combines scientific difficulty with genuine practical urgency — it bears directly on the use of marginal land and on food security. The answer offered by CUHK's School of Life Sciences Soybean Research Centre is a journey spanning over a decade, from basic research to field application, and the institution that carries it is CUHK's State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology.

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# 2. Where the State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology (SKLA) Came From

The establishment of the State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology (SKLA) at The Chinese University of Hong Kong follows a clear institutional path. According to an official CUHK press release^※, the laboratory was approved by the Ministry of Science and Technology on 2 April 2008, becoming CUHK's second state key laboratory at the time (a lab in translational oncology had been approved earlier, in 2006).

The laboratory did not start from scratch. SKLA's intellectual and staffing foundations come from CUHK's Institute of Plant Molecular Biology and Agricultural Biotechnology, which had previously received support under the University Grants Committee's Areas of Excellence scheme on two occasions, totalling over HK$63 million (10-year term, UGC Areas of Excellence, 2000s). The laboratory was formally inaugurated on 13 December 2008.

# Founding Team and Key Partners

The founding leadership structure, per the official CUHK press release^※, was as follows:

On collaboration, official materials indicate that SKLA established China Agricultural University (CAU) as its primary mainland partner. The laboratory also cooperates with China's National Hybrid Rice Research and Development Center, the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Crop Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, the China National Rice Research Institute (Hangzhou), as well as Peking University, Tsinghua University and Yangzhou University. International partners include research institutions in the United States, the United Kingdom and Japan.

# Three Main Research Thrusts

According to the SKLA official website^※, the laboratory currently focuses on three core areas:

This framework carries forward the laboratory's founding mission — as the official press release^※ quotes Prof. Samuel Sun, the fundamental goal was to combine the wisdom of traditional breeding with modern biotechnology to develop new rice varieties with higher yields and better nutritional value, since rice is the staple food of roughly half the world's population.

The full story of SKLA's two directors since its founding, its founding team composition, and the institutional origins of the "partner laboratory" model is told in The State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology: From Samuel Sun's Lysine Rice to Lam Hon-Ming's Soybean Genes — that article also records SKLA's reorganisation in 2025 together with several other Hong Kong state key laboratories, and its designation as a "National Key Laboratory." This article focuses on the soybean line of science and industry itself.

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# 3. Rice Nutritional Enhancement: Samuel Sun's Team and the Gates Foundation

One of SKLA's most internationally visible early research projects was lysine enrichment in rice. Lysine is the essential amino acid in lowest supply in rice seeds, and a major nutritional shortfall for rice-based diets. According to the official CUHK press release^※, SKLA launched an international collaborative project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to the tune of HK$88 million (grant awarded in the 2000s), bringing together six laboratories across four countries to improve rice's nutritional value. The project was deeply integrated with SKLA's synthetic and functional genomics platform, reflecting the founding design of leveraging Hong Kong's international networks while drawing on mainland resources.

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# 4. The Scientific Journey of the Soybean Genome: From 31 Genomes to a Salt-Tolerance Gene

The soybean breakthrough was led by Prof. Lam Hon-Ming. According to CUHK School of Life Sciences^※, he has worked on soybean stress tolerance continuously since returning to CUHK in 1997 — a commitment spanning more than two decades. The key conceptual shift in this research was to return to the wild soybean: cultivated soybeans, shaped by centuries of artificial selection, may have lost some stress-resistance genes during domestication, whereas wild soybean (Glycine soja), honed by natural selection, retains a richer reservoir of stress-tolerance genetic resources.

Lam's own career follows a "leave and return" arc: according to Wikipedia^※, he graduated from CUHK's Biology Department in 1985, went to the United States for doctoral studies, researched nitrogen metabolism at New York University from 1992 to 1996, and returned to Hong Kong to join CUHK in 1998 — never leaving the soybean question since. In 2017, his soybean genomics research received a Second Class Award (Science and Technology) for Higher Education Outstanding Scientific Research Output from China's Ministry of Education. In July 2023, he was awarded the Medal of Honour (MH) by the Hong Kong SAR Government "in recognition of his significant contributions to the sustainable development of agriculture in Hong Kong."

# 2010: 31 Soybean Genomes on the Cover of Nature Genetics

According to the academic paper published in Nature Genetics^※, Lam's team, together with BGI (Beijing Genomics Institute), resequenced 31 wild and cultivated soybean genomes, systematically revealing the patterns of genetic diversity and artificial selection that distinguish wild from cultivated soybeans — at the time one of the largest soybean genome comparisons ever conducted. The results appeared as the cover article in December 2010. The central finding: allelic diversity in wild soybean significantly exceeds that in cultivated varieties, meaning domestication-driven selection had already led to the loss of substantial genetic resources — and those "lost" genes are precisely the potential treasure trove for improving modern soybean.

# 2014: Cloning the Salt-Tolerance Gene GmCHX1

According to the paper published in Nature Communications^※, in 2014 the team used whole-genome sequencing to identify and clone a new salt-tolerance gene, GmCHX1, from wild soybean. GmCHX1 encodes an ion transporter, and is thought to confer salt tolerance by lowering the intracellular sodium/potassium (Na⁺/K⁺) ratio. This discovery provided a direct target for marker-assisted breeding — as the CUHK announcement of the same year^※ put it, the successful cloning of a major salt-tolerance gene from wild soybean was the outcome of more than a decade of fieldwork and laboratory work by Lam's team, and was hailed by the University as a milestone in the path to large-scale production of quality salt-tolerant soybeans.

The "call on the wild" motif: This approach echoes the conceptual turns behind other CUHK breakthroughs recorded on this site (optical fibre, NIPT) — when the cultivated soybean yielded no answer to salt tolerance, the team turned to the neglected wild soybean. Real breakthroughs often come from re-asking the question of where to look.

# One Gene, Two Names: GmCHX1 and GmSALT3

A detail worth recording in the history of science: Lam's team was not the only one to home in on this locus that year. According to a twenty-year review of soybean salt-tolerance gene research^※, also in 2014, another team led by Rongxia Guan of the University of Adelaide, Australia, together with Northeast Agricultural University in China, independently confirmed the same salt-tolerance locus through map-based cloning and genome-wide association analysis, naming it GmSALT3 (also known as GmNcl). The two findings appeared in the same journal almost simultaneously; to avoid confusion, the field subsequently settled on GmCHX1 as the common name. This is a familiar story in gene discovery — the "parallel independent discovery," where different teams, starting from different populations and using different methods, converge on the same stretch of DNA.

According to a paper in Frontiers in Plant Science^※, a retrospective analysis of six decades of soybean breeding in China found that varieties carrying the GmCHX1/GmSALT3 salt-tolerance allele showed a pattern of amplification by both natural and artificial selection over that period — confirming the locus's real value in breeding practice, not merely as a laboratory discovery.

The research did not stop at the 2014 cloning. According to a paper in the Journal of Experimental Botany^※, a 2024 follow-up study identified a new natural variant in the promoter region of GmCHX1 — a single-base change at a STRE cis-element that switches the gene from constitutive high expression to expression induced only under salt stress, theoretically saving energy and exerting less drag on yield. The salt-tolerance gene story, in other words, continues: from "is there a salt-tolerance gene?" to "which mode of expression causes the fewest side effects."

# 2019: The First Reference-Grade Wild Soybean Genome

From the population-level patterns of 31 genomes to a fine-grained map of a single species — according to the official CUHK 2019 press release^※, the team, working with BGI Genomics and others, announced on 3 April 2019 the completion of the world's first reference-grade wild soybean genome — a chromosome-level, high-quality assembly of the wild soybean accession W05 — published again in Nature Communications.

The value of a reference-grade genome: A reference genome is, in effect, a high-precision "genetic map" of a species. Using this map, the team identified a series of important structural differences between wild and cultivated soybean, including a translocation between chromosomes 11 and 13, and a large genomic inversion at the I locus controlling seed-coat colour — the latter being the genetic explanation for the domestication transition from dark-coated to yellow-coated soybean. This foundational work turned salt-tolerance gene discovery from "trial and error" into "following the map."

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# 5. From Lab to Land: "Longhuang" Soybeans in Gansu's Saline-Alkali Soils

The ultimate outlet for basic research is a crop that grows in soil. According to the official CUHK feature^※, Lam Hon-Ming collaborated with mainland breeders including Prof. Zhang Guohong of the Gansu Academy of Agricultural Sciences and Prof. Shao Guihua of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, combining molecular markers with traditional breeding to develop three salt- and drought-tolerant soybean varieties — Longhuang 1, Longhuang 2 and Longhuang 3 — which passed formal testing in Gansu Province.

According to the official feature^※, by 2021 the combined planted area of the three varieties across the dry highlands of Gansu's Loess Plateau exceeded 40,700 hectares, spanning roughly 2,000 kilometres of arid land. According to an official CUHKUPDates interview^※, the trial fields were first sited in Qingyang and Pingchuan, Gansu, where the team deliberately chose new varieties with "low water requirements and strong vitality" as pioneer crops to gradually improve saline-alkali and poor soils. The varieties passed provincial certification between 2016 and 2017; per the same account, cumulative promotion across 2016 to 2023 reached 1.18 million mu (approximately 78,700 hectares), generating a cumulative income increase for local farmers of roughly RMB 69 million — a fuller picture of the full promotion cycle than the 2021 interim figure. The research has also extended to South Africa, where a 20-hectare trial farm was established, and funding helped build fencing for a drought-affected, underdeveloped village so farmers could plant drought-tolerant soybeans and other crops — a contribution to helping African smallholder farmers meet food-security challenges.

From a Hong Kong laboratory to Gansu fields: This is a rare, complete chain — Hong Kong's basic research, mainland breeding collaboration, and actual cultivation in the northwest's saline-alkali land. It means CUHK's agricultural research does not stop at papers and genomes, but becomes real crops growing on marginal land.

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# 6. Soybeans in Space

In 2023, Lam Hon-Ming's research reached low Earth orbit. According to the official CUHK press release^※, on 10 May 2023, SKLA, in collaboration with the China Manned Space Agency, China Resources Group's Research Institute of Science and Technology, and Shenzhou Biotechnology Group, sent soybean rhizobium samples aboard the Tianzhou-6 cargo spacecraft to the Chinese space station Tiangong — the first Hong Kong agricultural research project launched into space. The goal: by comparing genetic variation in rhizobia in space versus on Earth, to screen for new strains with superior nitrogen-fixation efficiency, opening new frontiers for climate-adapted agriculture.

Rhizobia were not the only payload. According to a republished Global Times interview^※, in May of the same year Longhuang soybean seeds also went up aboard the Shenzhou-16 crewed spacecraft, staying in orbit alongside the Tianzhou-6 rhizobium samples for about six months before returning to Earth at the end of November 2023. Lam explained the thinking behind the experiment: 「将大豆和根瘤菌放到失重状态下，其实就是模拟一下，如果达不到地球地心吸引力的情况下，大豆能产生什么变化」 ("Putting soybeans and rhizobia in a weightless state is essentially simulating what changes soybeans might undergo without Earth's gravitational pull"). The team subsequently conducted genome-level comparative analysis of the returned samples; as of the August 2024 interview, results were still awaiting release. Lam also spoke of a more distant vision: 「未来，我们可以尝试在火星在月球在太空种大豆」 ("In the future, we can try growing soybeans on Mars, on the Moon, in space"), reasoning that soybean's symbiotic nitrogen fixation with rhizobia — drawing nitrogen from the air to make its own nutrients — offers more protein than crops like potato, making it a promising candidate for extraterrestrial agriculture.

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# 7. What It Means: Three Qualities of CUHK Research in One Soybean, and the National Dimension

The salt-tolerant soybean research embodies three qualities of CUHK research at once: originality (discovering new genes from wild soybean, assembling the first reference-grade genome), translation (the complete chain from gene to variety to field), and social relevance (addressing the use of saline-alkali land and food security — issues of real consequence for people's livelihoods and for the nation).

Institutional framing: SKLA's position is that of a "partner laboratory," with China Agricultural University as its primary mainland anchor, pairing Hong Kong's advantages in international connectivity, talent, and modern management with mainland strengths in economic scale, research volume, and natural resources in a strategy of complementary alignment. SKLA, in other words, is not a parochial research outpost confined to a Hong Kong campus; it is a node in the national agricultural science and innovation network — its results flow to Gansu's saline-alkali fields, its genomic data are shared openly with scientists worldwide, and its rhizobia ride cargo spacecraft into the Chinese space station.

In CUHK's research narrative, salt-tolerant soybean often stands alongside optical fibre, NIPT and network coding as a signature breakthrough. But its distinctive warmth lies here: it ends up in the soil, in the harvests of farmers.

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# 8. Beyond One Laboratory: International Policy Advocacy on Soybeans

Lam Hon-Ming's soybean work has not stopped at papers and varieties — it has extended into international agricultural policy. According to the official CUHKUPDates interview^※, he joined legume researchers from Australia, mainland China, South Africa, the United States and the United Kingdom in co-authoring a policy brief titled Legumes: Solutions to Human Health and Agricultural Sustainability. That call was subsequently carried into an academic paper — according to the paper in Nature Plants^※, in August 2016, a team led by Christine H. Foyer, with Lam as a co-author, published Neglecting legumes has compromised human health and sustainable food production in that journal, timed to coincide with the UN's designation of 2016 as the International Year of Pulses. The paper's core argument: legume crops, by virtue of symbiotic nitrogen fixation, could substantially ease global food-security and soil-fertility problems, yet research investment and policy attention have long been disproportionately inadequate relative to their potential.

The paper places the salt-tolerant soybean research in a larger frame — not an isolated output of one Hong Kong laboratory, but part of a collective voice from the global legume science community. From Longhuang soybeans in Gansu fields to policy advocacy in international journals, Lam's team has always advanced on two fronts simultaneously: delivering specific varieties on the ground, and pressing for disciplinary influence in the wider conversation.

Related reading: The State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology: From Samuel Sun's Lysine Rice to Lam Hon-Ming's Soybean Genes, Overview of Research Achievements, State Key Laboratories, China Studies, Social Science Think Tanks, Earth and Space, Research Outputs and Spin-off Companies.

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