In this investigation we have shown that Tgm9 is an active transposable element that can induce mutations in unlinked genes on all 20 soybean chromosomes. It appears based on the study of 105 mutants that the Tgm9 element randomly transposes into genes and over 25% of the mutants are expected to be knockout mutants, suitable for functional analyses of soybean genes. As there is a single active copy of this element in the mutable T322 line, identification of the insertion sites in a large collection of Tgm9-induced mutants is feasible through application of a next-generation sequencing platform. In soybean, the functions of the majority of the genes are still unknown. The generation of an indexed transposon-induced mutant population using Tgm9 and their display in the SoyBase genome browser in the context of the other information available at SoyBase (Fig 4) will likely facilitate the functional characterization of most of the 15,166 single copy soybean genes . Desirable Tgm9-induced mutant genes carrying inactive, fractured Tgm9-elements can also be identified and incorporated into elite breeding programs leading to relatively rapid release of genetically improved cultivars for commercial cultivation.