Effects on flowering and seed yield of dominant alleles at maturity loci E2 and E3 in a Japanese cultivar, Enrei

Abstract

‘Enrei’ is the second leading variety of soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) in Japan. Its cultivation area is mainly restricted to the Hokuriku region. In order to expand the adaptability of ‘Enrei’, we developed two near-isogenic lines (NILs) of ‘Enrei’ for the dominant alleles controlling late flowering at the maturity loci, E2 and E3, by backcrossing with marker-assisted selection. The resultant NILs and the original variety were evaluated for flowering, maturity, seed productivity and other agronomic traits in five different locations. Expectedly, NILs with E2 or E3 alleles flowered later than the original variety in most locations. These NILs produced comparatively larger plants in all locations. Seed yields were improved by E2 and E3 in the southern location or in late-sowing conditions, whereas the NIL for E2 exhibited almost the same or lower productivity in the northern locations due to higher degrees of lodging. Seed quality-related traits, such as 100-seed weight and protein content, were not significantly different between the original variety and its NILs. These results suggest that the modification of genotypes at maturity loci provides new varieties that are adaptive to environments of different latitudes while retaining almost the same seed quality as that of the original.

Early-Maturing and Chilling-Tolerant Soybean Lines Derived from Crosses between Japanese and Polish Cultivars

“…The primers used were 5΄-TTTTCACTGACACACCAAGGTC-3΄ and 5΄-ACCTGCCAAAAGTGTACCAATC-3΄ for combi33; 5΄-AT T C G A C G T C T T C T C T C G TAT T-3΄ a n d 5΄ -TTGTACAGAGACCAGGGGAAAG-3΄ for combi12; 5΄-C G G T A T G A G C T G G T C A T G A A A -3 ΄ a n d 5΄-GCACGTGATCACACAGACAA-3΄ for LGIESSR1; 5΄-ACAAATTCTCAACATTGTAGCATCA-3΄ and 5΄-TGAAATTCATGTCCAGAACACA-3΄ for Scaffold_1_31. The four markers, E2at_U46k, E2at, E2at_D82k and GMES4019, were used for estimating E2 according to the previous study (Yamada et al, 2012). The four markers, E3at_U113k, FT3SSR4, FT3SSR1dom and FT3SSR3, were used for estimating E3 according to the previous study (Yamada et al, 2012).…”

“…The four markers, E2at_U46k, E2at, E2at_D82k and GMES4019, were used for estimating E2 according to the previous study (Yamada et al, 2012). The four markers, E3at_U113k, FT3SSR4, FT3SSR1dom and FT3SSR3, were used for estimating E3 according to the previous study (Yamada et al, 2012). Toyoharuka and Hayahikari were used as the references for e1e1 e2e2 E3E3 E4E4 and E1E1 e2e2 e3e3 e4e4, respectively.…”

The transition time from the juvenile phase to the adult phase differs in soybean cultivars ‘Enrei’ and ‘Peking’

“…‘Enrei’ controls early flowering by the recessive alleles e2 and e3 (Yamada et al. ). Our results showing differences in photosensitivity for flowering between ‘Enrei’ and ‘Peking’ are consistent with previous reports.…”

Effects of maturity genes E2 and E3 on yield formation in soybean cultivar Enrei in warm region, Fukuyama in Japan

“…However, NILs of the Japanese cultivar 'Enrei' have now been developed through marker assisted selection (Yamada et al, 2012). 'Enrei' is so far the only Japanese soybean cultivar to have had its whole genome sequenced (Shimomura et al, 2015).…”

“…E1 is reported to be a repressor of GmFT2a and GmFT5a, orthologues of FLOWERING LOCUS T of Arabidopsis (Xia et al, 2012); E2 is reported to be an orthologue of the GIGANTEA gene of Arabidopsis, related to a circadian clock (Watanabe et al, 2011); and E3 and E4 are reported to be phytochrome A (phyA) genes sensitive to the ratio of red light to far-red light (R:FR ratio), named as GmphyA3 and GmphyA2, respectively (Liu et al, 2008;Watanabe et al, 2009). Yamada et al (2012) developed NILs of maturity genes E2 and E3 of 'Enrei', and compared seed yield and basic agronomic traits at several locations in Japan. Although Yamada et al observed a significant difference in growth duration and seed yield between 'Enrei' and the NILs, the key traits differentiating seed yield were not revealed.…”