Abstract:As one of the most important crops in the world, soybean provides more than 71% and 21% of the global consumption of vegetative protein and oil, respectively. As the increasing of population and the demand for soybean consumption, the genetic improvement of soybean quality has become more importance under the limited arable land area and yield per unit area. The research progress of the two important quality traits of soybean seed protein and oil contents was reviewed, the key enzymes and transcription factors controlling soybean protein and oil synthesis, and the interactions among different factors were summarized. The molecular regulatory network of soybean protein and oil synthesis was mapped according to the key enzymes and transcription factors in the pathway of protein and oil anabolic regulation. In addition, the current bottlenecks in soybean seed protein and oil improvement and the potential breeding strategies were discussed for providing understandings for the genetic improvement of soybean seed protein and oil.