**8. Efficacy of soybean genetic manipulation**

It has been more than two decades, since the introduction of genetically modified plants established through *in vitro Agrobacterium*-mediated transformation. In soybean, the first successful transformation was reported by Hinchee et al. [58], using cotyledonary explants with *Agrobacterium* pTiT37-SE harbouring pMON9749 for herbicide glyphosate tolerance. The success in this method depended upon several factors; which included tissue culture conditions, strains of *Agrobacterium* used and the selected host plant genotypes aimed at receiving the transgenes. To date, this technique has succeeded in the production of high yielding transgenic plants, particularly for corn, chickpea, rice, cowpea, as well as a few new soybean cultivars [59–62].

Genetic transformation is now considered the most economic and highly effective method of genetic engineering that has been reported so far. The method holds the potential and promise to efficiently regenerate transgenic plants, especially for recalcitrant legume crops. Legumes like soybeans are some of the most important pulse crops and a good source of high quality proteins and oils, required for human consumption, health benefits and industrial processing. However, the vegetative and reproductive stages of soybean continuously show high sensitivity to biotic and abiotic stress constraints. Yield quality and quantity of this crop is severely affected by high temperatures, chilling, waterlogging and water deficit stress [2]. Furthermore, tools such as genetic engineering, aimed at improving the growth characteristics of this crop are also negatively influenced by several factors like genotype specificity and co-cultivation challenges discussed in the above sections. To circumvent challenges posed by all stress factors; an efficient and rapid system of transformation that develops non-chimeric transgenic plants with resistance to these conditions must be advanced. A genetic transformation that eliminates the problem of genotype specificity in many established protocols must be established. This generally implies that, a protocol developed for one cultivar must be efficiently used for the genetic transformation of other varieties, including species closely related to the same genera.
