Soybean is an important economic and green manure crop that is widely used in intercropping and rotation systems due to its high biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) capacity and the resulting reduction in N fertilization. However, the genetic mechanisms underlying soybean BNF are largely unknown. Here, two soybean parent genotypes contrasting in BNF traits and 168 F9:11 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) were evaluated under four conditions in the field. The parent FC1 always produced more big nodules, yet fewer nodules in total than the parent FC2 in the field. Furthermore, nodulation in FC1 was more responsive to environmental changes than that in FC2. Broad-sense heritability (h2b) for all BNF traits varied from 0.48 to 0.87, which suggests that variation in the observed BNF traits was primarily determined by genotype. Moreover, two new QTLs for BNF traits, qBNF-16 and qBNF-17, were identified in this study. The qBNF-16 locus was detected under all of the four tested conditions, where it explained 15.9–59.0% of phenotypic variation with LOD values of 6.31–32.5. Meanwhile qBNF-17 explained 12.6–18.6% of observed variation with LOD values of 4.93–7.51. Genotype group analysis indicated that the FC1 genotype of qBNF-16 primarily affected nodule size (NS), while the FC2 genotype of qBNF-16 promoted nodule number (NN). On the other hand, the FC1 genotype of qBNF-17 influenced NN and the FC2 genotype of qBNF-17 impacted NS. The results on the whole suggest that these two QTLs might be valuable markers for breeding elite soybean varieties with high BNF capacities.
Background Shoot architecture is fundamentally crucial to crop growth and productivity. As a key component of shoot architecture, plant height is known to be controlled by both genetic and environmental factors, though specific details remain scarce. Results In this study, 308 representative soybean lines from a core collection and 168 F9 soybean progeny were planted at distinct field sites. The results demonstrated the presence of significant genotype × environment interaction (G × E) effects on traits associated with plant height in a natural soybean population. In total, 19 loci containing 51 QTLs (quantitative trait locus) for plant height were identified across four environments, with 23, 13 and 15 being QTLs for SH (shoot height), SNN (stem node number) and AIL (average internode length), respectively. Significant LOD ranging from 2.50 to 16.46 explained 2.80–26.10% of phenotypic variation. Intriguingly, only two loci, Loc11 and Loc19–1, containing 20 QTLs, were simultaneously detected across all environments. Results from Pearson correlation analysis and PCA (principal component analysis) revealed that each of the five agro-meteorological factors and four soil properties significantly affected soybean plant height traits, and that the corresponding QTLs had additive effects. Among significant environmental factors, AD (average day-length), AMaT (average maximum temperature), pH, and AN (available nitrogen) had the largest impacts on soybean plant height. Therefore, in spite of uncontrollable agro-meteorological factors, soybean shoot architecture might be remolded through combined efforts to produce superior soybean genetic materials while also optimizing soil properties. Conclusions Overall, the comprehensive set of relationships outlined herein among environment factors, soybean genotypes and QTLs in effects on plant height opens new avenues to explore in work aiming to increase soybean yield through improvements in shoot architecture.
Background:Shoot architecture is fundamentally crucial to crop growth and productivity. As a key component of shoot architecture, plant height is known to be controlled by both genetic and environmental factors, though specific details remain scarce.Results:In this study, 308 representative soybean lines from a core collection and 168 F9 soybean progeny were planted at distinct field sites. The results demonstrated the presence of significant genotype × environment interaction (G × E) effects on traits associated with plant height in a natural soybean population. In total, 19 loci containing 51 QTLs (quantitative trait locus) for plant height were identified across four environments, with 23, 13 and 15 being QTLs for SH (shoot height), SNN (stem node number) and AIL (average internode length), respectively. Significant LOD ranging from 2.50 to 16.46 explained 2.80% - 26.10% of phenotypic variation. Intriguingly, only two loci, Loc11 and Loc19-1, containing 20 QTLs, were simultaneously detected across all environments. Results from Pearson correlation analysis and PCA (principal component analysis) revealed that each of the five agro-meteorological factors and four soil properties significantly affected soybean plant height traits, and that the corresponding QTLs had additive effects. Among significant environmental factors, AD (average day-length), AMaT (average maximum temperature), pH, and AN (available nitrogen) had the largest impacts on soybean plant height. Therefore, in spite of uncontrollable agro-meteorological factors, soybean shoot architecture might be remolded through combined efforts to produce superior soybean genetic materials while also optimizing soil properties.Conclusions:Overall, the comprehensive set of relationships outlined herein among environment factors, soybean genotypes and QTLs in effects on plant height opens new avenues to explore in work aiming to increase soybean yield through improvements in shoot architecture.
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