a soybean cultivar needs to be highly homogeneous , homozygous and reproducible to be useful as a commercial cultivar . there are many analytical methods available to determine the homozygotic and phenotypic stability of these cultivars . the oldest and most traditional method of analysis is the observation of phenotypic traits . the data is usually collected in field experiments over the life of the soybean plants to be examined . phenotypic characteristics most often observed are for traits associated with seed yield , lodging resistance , disease resistance , emergence , maturity , plant height , shattering , flower color , pubescence color , pod color and hilum color . in addition to phenotypic observations , the genotype of a plant can also be examined . there are many laboratory - based techniques available for the analysis , comparison and characterization of plant genotype ; among these are isozyme electrophoresis , restriction fragment length polymorphisms ( rflps ), randomly amplified polymorphic dnas ( rapds ), arbitrarily primed polymerase chain reaction ( ap - pcr ), dna amplification fingerprinting ( daf ), sequence characterized amplified regions ( scars ), amplified fragment length polymorphisms ( aflps ), single nucleotide polymorphisms ( snps ), and simple sequence repeats ( ssrs ) which are also referred to as microsatellites . the cultivar of the invention has shown uniformity and stability for all traits , as described in the following cultivar description information . it has been self - pollinated a sufficient number of generations , with careful attention to uniformity of plant type to ensure homozygosity and phenotypic stability . the line has been increased with continued observation for uniformity . no variant traits have been observed or are expected in j604217 . soybean cultivar j604217 , being substantially homozygous , can be reproduced by planting seeds of the line , growing the resulting soybean plants under self - pollinating or sib - pollinating conditions , and harvesting the resulting seed , using techniques familiar to the agricultural arts . publications useful as references in interpreting the data presented below include : caldwell , b . e . ed . 1973 . “ soybeans : improvement , production , and uses ” amer . soc . agron . monograph no . 16 ; buttery , b . r ., and r . i . buzzell 1968 . “ peroxidase activity in seed of soybean varieties ” crop sci . 8 : 722 - 725 ; hymowitz , t . 1973 . “ electrophoretic analysis of sbti - a2 in the usda soybean germplasm collection ” crop sci ., 13 : 420 - 421 ; payne r . c ., and l . f . morris , 1976 . “ differentiation of soybean varieties by seedling pigmentation patterns ” j . seed . technol . 1 : 1 - 19 . the disclosures of which are each incorporated by reference in their entirety . the invention also encompasses plants of cultivar j604217 and parts thereof further comprising one or more specific , single gene transferred traits . such traits are introgressed into cultivar j604217 from another soybean cultivar or are directly transformed into cultivar j604217 . preferably , one or more new traits are transferred to cultivar j604217 , or , alternatively , one or more traits of cultivar j604217 are altered or substituted . the introgression of the trait ( s ) into cultivar j604217 is for example achieved by recurrent selection breeding , for example by backcrossing . the goal of a backcross protocol is to alter of substitute a single trait or characteristic in the original inbred . in one embodiment of the present invention , cultivar j604217 ( the recurrent parent ) is first crossed to a donor inbred ( the non - recurrent parent ) that carries the appropriate gene ( s ) for the trait ( s ) in question . the progeny of this cross is then mated back to the recurrent parent followed by selection in the resultant progeny for the desired trait ( s ) to be transferred from the non - recurrent parent . after three , preferably four , more preferably five or more generations of backcrosses with the recurrent parent with selection for the desired trait ( s ), the progeny will be heterozygous for loci controlling the trait ( s ) being transferred , but will be like the recurrent parent for most or almost all other genes , i . e ., will be like the recurrent parent for essentially all of the recurrent parent &# 39 ; s physiological and morphological characteristics . ( see , for example , poehlman & amp ; sleper ( 1995 ) breeding field crops , 4th ed ., 172 - 175 ; fehr ( 1987 ) principles of cultivar development , vol . 1 : theory and technique , 360 - 376 ). the laboratory - based techniques described above , in particular rflp and ssr , can be used in such backcrosses to identify the progenies having the highest degree of genetic identity with the recurrent parent . this permits one to accelerate the production of soybean cultivars having at least 90 %, preferably at least 95 %, more preferably at least 99 % genetic identity with the recurrent parent , yet more preferably genetically identical to the recurrent parent , and further comprising the trait ( s ) introgressed from the donor patent . such determination of genetic identity can be based on molecular markers used in the laboratory - based techniques described above . the last backcross generation is then selfed to give pure breeding progeny for the gene ( s ) being transferred . the resulting plants have essentially all of the morphological and physiological characteristics of cultivar j604217 , in addition to the single gene trait ( s ) transferred to the inbred . the exact backcrossing protocol will depend on the trait being altered to determine an appropriate testing protocol . although backcrossing methods are simplified when the trait being transferred is a dominant allele , a recessive allele may also be transferred . in this instance it may be necessary to introduce a test of the progeny to determine if the desired trait has been successfully transferred . the cultivar of the invention can also be used for transformation where exogenous genes are introduced and expressed by the cultivar of the invention . genetic variants created either through traditional breeding methods using cultivar j604217 or through transformation of cultivar j604217 by any of a number of protocols known to those of skill in the art are intended to be within the scope of this invention ( see e . g . trick et al . ( 1997 ) recent advances in soybean transformation , in plant tissue culture and biotechnology , 3 : 9 - 26 , incorporated herein by reference ). production of a genetically modified plant tissue by transformation combines teachings of the present disclosure with a variety of techniques and expedients known in the art . in most instances alternate expedients exist for each stage of the overall process . the choice of expedients depends on the variables such as the plasmid vector system chosen for the cloning and introduction of the desired recombinant dna molecule , as well as the particular structural gene , promoter elements and upstream elements used . persons skilled in the art are able to select and use appropriate alternatives to achieve functionality . culture conditions for expressing desired structural genes and cultured cells are known in the art . also as known in the art , soybeans are transformable and regenerable such that whole plants containing and expressing desired genes under regulatory control may be obtained . general descriptions of plant expression vectors and reporter genes and transformation protocols can be found in gruber , et al ., “ vectors for plant transformation , in methods in plant molecular biology & amp ; biotechnology ” in glich et al ., ( eds . pp . 89 - 119 , crc press , 1993 ). moreover gus expression vectors and gus gene cassettes are available from clone tech laboratories , inc ., palo alto , calif . while luciferase expression vectors and luciferase gene cassettes are available from pro mega corp . ( madison , wis .). general methods of culturing plant tissues are provided for example by maki et al . “ procedures for introducing foreign dna into plants ” in methods in plant molecular biology & amp ; biotechnology , glich et al . ( eds . pp . 67 - 88 crc press , 1993 ); and by phillips et al . “ cell - tissue culture and in - vitro manipulation ” in soybean & amp ; soybean improvement , 3rd edition sprague et al . ( eds . pp . 345 - 387 ) american society of agronomy inc . et al . 1988 . methods of introducing desired recombinant dna molecule into plant tissue include the direct infection or co - cultivation of plant cells with agrobacterium tumefaciens , horsch et al ., science , 227 : 1229 ( 1985 ). descriptions of agrobacterium vector systems and methods for agrobacterium - mediated gene transfer provided by gruber , et al . supra . other useful methods include but are not limited to expression vectors introduced into plant tissues using a direct gene transfer method such as microprojectile - mediated delivery , dna injection , electroporation and the like . more preferably expression vectors are introduced into plant tissues using the biolistic microprojectile delivery or agrobacterium - medicated transformation . transformed plants obtained via protoplast transformation are also intended to be within the scope of this invention . many traits have been identified that are not regularly selected for in the development of a new cultivar but that can be improved e . g . by backcrossing techniques or by genetic transformation . using materials and methods well known to those persons skilled in the art , traits that are capable of being transferred , to cultivar j604217 include , but are not limited to , herbicide tolerance , resistance for bacterial , fungal , or viral disease , nematode resistance , insect resistance , enhanced nutritional quality , such as oil , starch and protein content or quality , improved performance in an industrial process , altered reproductive capability , such as male sterility or male fertility , yield stability and yield enhancement . other traits transferred to cultivar j604217 are for the production of commercially valuable enzymes or metabolites in plants of cultivar j604217 . traits capable of being transferred to soybean cultivar j604217 are naturally occurring soybean traits or transgenic traits . transgenes are directly introduced into cultivar j604217 using genetic engineering and transformation techniques well known in the art , some of which are described above , or are originally introduced into a donor , non - recurrent parent using genetic engineering and transformation techniques , which are then introgressed into cultivar j604217 , for example by backcrossing . a transgene typically comprises a nucleotide sequence whose expression is responsible or contributes to the trait , under the control of a promoter capable of directing the expression of the nucleotide sequence at the desired time in the desired tissue or part of the plant . constitutive , tissue - specific or inducible promoters preferably are used . the transgene may also comprise other regulatory elements such as for example translation enhancers or termination signals . in one embodiment of the present invention , the transgene nucleotide sequence in the cultivar j604217 includes a coding sequence that is transcribed and translated into a protein . in another embodiment of the invention , the nucleotide sequence encodes an antisense rna or a sense rna that is not translated or only partially translated . where more than one trait are introgressed into cultivar j604217 , it is preferred that the specific genes are all located at the same genomic locus in the donor , non - recurrent parent , preferably , in the case of transgenes , as part of a single dna construct integrated into the donor &# 39 ; s genome . alternatively , if the genes are located at different genomic loci in the donor , non - recurrent parent , backcrossing allows to recover essentially all of the morphological and physiological characteristics of cultivar j604217 in addition to the multiple genes in the resulting soybean cultivar . the genes responsible for a specific , single gene trait are generally inherited through the nucleus . known exceptions are , e . g . the genes for male sterility , some of which are inherited cytoplasmically , but still act as single gene traits . in a preferred embodiment , a transgene to be introgressed into cultivar j604217 is integrated into the nuclear genome of the donor , non - recurrent parent or the transgene is directly transformed into the nuclear genome of cultivar j604217 . in another preferred embodiment , a transgene to be introgressed into cultivar j604217 is integrated into the plastid genome of the donor , non - recurrent parent or the transgene is directly transformed into the plastid genome of cultivar j604217 . in a preferred embodiment , a plastid transgene comprises one gene transcribed from a single promoter or two or more genes transcribed from a single promoter . a non - exclusive list of traits or nucleotide sequences capable of being transferred into cultivar j604217 , using material and methods well known to those persons skilled in the art are as follows : genetic factor ( s ) responsible for resistance to brown stem rot ( u . s . pat . no . 5 , 689 , 035 ) or resistance to cyst nematodes ( u . s . pat . no . 5 , 491 , 081 ); a transgene encoding an insecticidal protein , such as , for example , a crystal protein of bacillus thuringiensis or a vegetative insecticidal protein from bacillus cereus , such as vip3 ( see for example estruch et al . nat biotechnol ( 1997 ) 15 : 137 - 41 ; a herbicide tolerance transgene whose expression renders plants of cultivar j604217 tolerant to the herbicide , for example , expression of an altered acetohydroxyacid synthase ( ahas ) enzyme confers upon plants tolerance to various imidazolinone or sulfonamide herbicides ( u . s . pat . no . 4 , 761 , 373 ). other such traits include , for example , a non - transgenic trait conferring to cultivar j604217 tolerance to imidazolinones or sulfonylurea herbicides ; a transgene encoding a mutant acetolactate synthase ( als ) that render the plants resistant to inhibition by sulfonylurea herbicides ( u . s . pat . no . 5 , 013 , 659 ); a gene encoding a mutant glutamine synthetase ( gs ) resistant to inhibition by herbicides that are known to inhibit gs , e . g . phosphinothricin and methionine sulfoximine ( u . s . pat . no . 4 , 975 , 374 ); and a streptomyces bar gene encoding a phosphinothricin acetyl transferase resulting in tolerance to the herbicide phosphinothricin or glufosinate ( u . s . pat . no . 5 , 489 , 520 ). other traits capable of being transferred to the cultivar j604217 of the invention include toleration to inhibition by cyclohexanedione and aryloxyphenoxypropanoic acid herbicides ( u . s . pat . no . 5 , 162 , 602 ), which is conferred by an altered acetyl coenzyme a carboxylase ( accase ); transgenic glyphosate tolerant plants , which tolerance is conferred by an altered 5 - enolpyruvyl - 3 - phosphoshikimate ( epsp ) synthase gene ; and tolerance to a protoporphyrinogen oxidase inhibitor , which is achieved by expression of a tolerant protoporphyrinogen oxidase enzyme in plants ( u . s . pat . no . 5 , 767 , 373 ). in yet another embodiment of the present invention , a transgene introgressed into cultivar j604217 comprises a gene conferring tolerance to a herbicide and at least another nucleotide sequence for another trait , such as for example , insect resistance or tolerance to another herbicide . direct selection may be applied where the trait acts as a dominant trait . an example of a dominant trait is herbicide tolerance . for this selection process , the progeny of the initial cross are sprayed with the herbicide prior to the backcrossing . the spraying eliminates any plant which do not have the desired herbicide tolerance characteristic , and only those plants which have the herbicide tolerance gene are used in the subsequent backcross . this process is then repeated for the additional backcross generations . this invention is also directed to methods for producing a soybean plant by crossing a first parent soybean plant with a second parent soybean plant , wherein the first or second soybean plant is the soybean plant from the line j604217 . further , both first and second parent soybean plants may be from the cultivar j604217 . therefore , any methods using the cultivar j604217 are part of this invention : selfing , backcrosses , hybrid breeding , and crosses to populations . any plants produced using cultivar j604217 or cultivar j604217 further comprising one or more specific , single gene traits as a parent are within the scope of this invention . for example , the soybean cultivar j604217 or cultivar j604217 further comprising one or more specific , single gene traits are used in crosses with other , different , soybean plants to produce first generation ( f1 ) soybean hybrid seeds and plants with superior characteristics . for example , a method to produce a hybrid soybean seed comprises the steps of planting , preferably in pollinating proximity , seeds of soybean cultivar j604217 or seeds of soybean cultivar j604217 further comprising one or more specific , single gene traits and another soybean cultivar , cultivating the soybean plants resulting from said seeds until said plants bear flowers , emasculating the plants of either one or the other soybean cultivar , inducing cross pollination to occur between said soybean cultivars and harvesting seeds produced on said emasculated plants of the cultivar line . as used herein , the term “ plant ” includes plant cells , plant protoplasts , plant cells of tissue culture from which soybean plants can be regenerated , plant calli , plant clumps , and plant cells that are intact in plants or parts of plants , such as pollen , flowers , seeds , pods , leaves , stems , and the like . thus , another aspect of this invention is to provide for cells that upon growth and differentiation produce the cultivar j604217 . further reproduction of the cultivar can occur by tissue culture and regeneration . tissue culture of various tissues of soybeans and regeneration of plants therefrom is well known and widely published . for example , reference may be had to komatsuda , t . et al ., “ genotype x sucrose interactions for somatic embryogenesis in soybean ,” crop sci . 31 : 333 - 337 ( 1991 ); stephens , p . a . et al ., “ agronomic evaluation of tissue - culture - derived soybean plants ,” theor . appl . genet . ( 1991 ) 82 : 633 - 635 ; komatsuda , t . et al ., “ maturation and germination of somatic embryos as affected by sucrose and plant growth regulators in soybeans glycine gracilis skvortz and glycine max ( l .) merr .,” plant cell , tissue and organ culture , 28 : 103 - 113 ( 1992 ); dhir , s . et al ., “ regeneration of fertile plants from protoplasts of soybean ( glycine max l . merr . ): genotypic differences in culture response ,” plant cell reports ( 1992 ) 11 : 285 - 289 ; pandey , p . et al ., “ plant regeneration from leaf and hypocotyl explants of glycine wightii ( w . and a .) verdc . var longicauda ,” japan j . breed . 42 : 1 - 5 ( 1992 ); and shetty , k ., et al ., “ stimulation of in vitro shoot organogenesis in glycine max ( merrill .) by allantoin and amides ,” plant science 81 :( 1992 ) 245 - 251 ; as well as u . s . pat . no . 5 , 024 , 944 , issued jun . 18 , 1991 to collins et al . and u . s . pat . no . 5 , 008 , 200 , issued apr . 16 , 1991 to ranch et al . thus , another aspect of this invention is to provide cells which upon growth and differentiation produce soybean plants having all or essentially all the physiological and morphological characteristics of cultivar j604217 . the disclosures , publications , and patents which are disclosed herein are all hereby incorporated herein in their entirety by reference . the seed of soybean cultivar j604217 further comprising one or more specific , single gene traits , the plant produced from the seed , the hybrid soybean plant produced from the crossing of the cultivar with any other soybean plant , hybrid seed , and various parts of the hybrid soybean plant can be utilized for human food , livestock feed , and as a raw material in industry . soybean is the world &# 39 ; s leading source of vegetable oil and protein meal . the oil extracted from soybeans is used for cooking oil , margarine , and salad dressings . soybean oil is composed of saturated , monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids . it has a typical composition of 11 % palmitic , 4 % stearic , 25 % oleic , 50 % linoleic and 9 % linolenic fatty acid content (“ economic implications of modified soybean traits summary report ”, iowa soybean promotion board & amp ; american soybean association special report 92s , may 1990 . changes in fatty acid composition for improved oxidative stability and nutrition are constantly sought after . industrial uses of soybean oil which is subjected to further processing include ingredients for paints , plastics , fibers , detergents , cosmetics , and lubricants . soybean oil may be split , inter - esterified , sulfurized , epoxidized , polymerized , ethoxylated , or cleaved . designing and producing soybean oil derivatives with improved functionality , oliochemistry , is a rapidly growing field . the typical mixture of triglycerides is usually split and separated into pure fatty acids , which are then combined with petroleum - derived alcohols or acids , nitrogen , sulfonates , chlorine , or with fatty alcohols derived from fats and oils . soybean is also used as a food source for both animals and humans . soybean is widely used as a source of protein for animal feeds for poultry , swine and cattle . during processing of whole soybeans , the fibrous hull is removed and the oil is extracted . the remaining soybean meal is a combination of carbohydrates and approximately 50 % protein . for human consumption soybean meal is made into soybean flour which is processed to protein concentrates used for meat extenders or specialty pet foods . production of edible protein ingredients from soybean offers a healthy , less expensive replacement for animal protein in meats as well as dairy - type products . yield , bushels per acre ; maturity , date , 95 % mature pod color ; lodging , score , 1 = upright , 9 = prostrate ; height , cm ., ground level to plant top ; sudden death syndrome , score , 1 = no foliar symptoms , 9 = severe symptoms ; brown stem rot , score , 1 = no foliar symptoms , 9 = severe symptoms ; shatter , score , 1 = no seed shatter , 9 = nearly complete shatter . applicants have made a deposit of at least 2500 seeds of the cultivar of the present invention with the american type culture collection ( atcc ), manassas , va ., 20110 - 2209 u . s . a ., atcc accession number no : pta - 4851 . this deposit of cultivar j604217 will be maintained in the atcc depository , which is a public depository , for a period of 30 years , or 5 years after the most recent request , or for the effective life of the patent , whichever is longer , and will be replaced if it becomes nonviable during that period . additionally , applicants have satisfied all the requirements of 37 c . f . r . §§ 1 . 801 - 1 . 809 , including providing an indication of the viability of the sample , and providing the commissioner access to the invention during pendency of the application . applicants impose no restrictions on the availability of the deposited material from the atcc ; however , applicants have no authority to waive any restrictions imposed by law on the transfer of biological material or its transportation in commerce . applicants do not waive any infringement of its rights granted under this patent or under the plant variety protection act ( 7 usc 2321 et seq .). the foregoing invention has been described in detail by way of illustration and example for purposes of clarity and understanding . however , it will be obvious that certain changes and modifications such as single gene modifications and mutations , somaclonal variants , variant individuals selected from large populations of the plants of the instant inbred and the like may be practiced within the scope of the invention , as limited only by the scope of the appended claims .
a novel soybean cultivar designated j604217 with high yield potential , late group 1 maturity , and resistance to races 3 and 14 of soybean cyst nematode , further including the plants and seeds of the cultivar j604217 , and methods for producing a soybean plant by crossing the cultivar j604217 with itself or another soybean plant . the invention also relates to soybean cultivar j604217 further comprising one or more single gene traits , and to methods of producing a soybean having such traits by transformation or mutagenesis . the invention also includes using the soybean cultivar j604217 to produce other soybean cultivars or breeding lines .