Asian soybean rust (ASR) is caused by the fungal pathogen Phakopsora pachyrhizi Sydow & Sydow. It was first identified in Brazil in 2001 and quickly infected soybean areas in several countries in South America. Primary efforts to combat this disease must involve the development of resistant cultivars. Four distinct genes that confer resistance against ASR have been reported: Rpp1, Rpp2, Rpp3, and Rpp4. However, no cultivar carrying any of those resistance loci has been released. The main objective of this study was to genetically map Rpp2 and Rpp4 resistance genes. Two F(2:3) populations, derived from the crosses between the resistant lines PI 230970 (Rpp2), PI 459025 (Rpp4) and the susceptible cultivar BRS 184, were used in this study. The mapping populations and parental lines were inoculated with a field isolate of P. pachyrhizi and evaluated for lesion type as resistant (RB lesions) or susceptible (TAN lesions). The mapping populations were screened with SSR markers, using the bulk segregant analysis (BSA) to expedite the identification of linked markers. Both resistance genes showed an expected segregation ratio for a dominant trait. This study allowed mapping Rpp2 and Rpp4 loci on the linkage groups J and G, respectively. The associated markers will be of great value on marker assisted selection for this trait.

To identify differentially expressed genes in soybean grown under different drought conditions, cDNA libraries from roots of different genotypes were constructed. Genes of contrasting genotypes of soybean were found to be differentially expressed in plants exposed to drought conditions. A total of 753 no redundant clones were identified by PCR, and these were printed on microarray glass slides. Probes of total RNA were prepared from bulked roots subjected to 25 and 50 min (Bulk 1) or 75 and 100 min (Bulk 2) of drought stress. Differential expression of 145 genes, involved in metabolic pathways responsive to biotic and abiotic stresses, was observed. These genes were classified into nine functional categories, including energy, transcription factors, metabolism, stress response, protein synthesis, cell communication, cell cycle, cell transport, and unknown function. The functionality of some of these genes was confirmed by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR).

ABSTRACT. To gain insight into stress-responsive gene regulation in soybean plants, we identified consensus sequences that could categorize the transcription factors MYBJ7, BZIP50, C2H2, and NAC2 as members of the gene families myb, bzip, c2h2, and nac, respectively. We also investigated the evolutionary relationship of these transcription factors and analyzed their expression levels under drought stress. The NCBI software was used to find the predicted amino acid sequences of the transcription factors, and the Clustal X software was used to align soybean and other plant species sequences. Phylogenetic trees were built using the Mega 4.1 software by neighbor joining and the degree of confidence test by Bootstrap. Expression level studies were carried out using hydroponic culture; the experiments were designed in completely randomized blocks with three repetitions. The blocks consisted of two genotypes, MG/ BR46 Conquista (drought-tolerant) and BR16 (drought-sensitive) and the treatments consisted of increasingly long dehydration periods (0, 25, 50, 75, and 100 min). The transcription factors presented domains and/or conserved regions that characterized them as belonging to the bzip, c2h2, myb, and nac families. Based on the phylogenetic trees, it was found that the myb, bzip and nac genes are closely related to myb78, bzip48 and nac2 of soybean and that c2h2 is closely related to c2h2 of Brassica napus. Expression of all genes was in general increased under drought stress in both genotypes.Major differences between genotypes were due to the lowering of the expression of the mybj7 and c2h2 genes in the drought-tolerant variety at some times. Over-expression or silencing of some of these genes has the potential to increase stress tolerance.