Identification and Characterization of Novel Candidate Genes Involved in Economically Important Traits in Soybean (Glycine max)

Abstract

Soybean is a globally important crop due to its wide range of uses, including providing protein for human consumption, high-quality nutrients for animal feed, and applications in biofuel production. Additionally, legume crops like soybean hold advantages because of their symbiotic association with nitrogen-fixing bacteria. As the global population continues to rise, the demand for food is increasing rapidly. However, agricultural production alone cannot meet this growing demand, necessitating research efforts to expand soybean cultivation further into Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta.These Canadian provinces possess abundant productive agricultural land and hold great potential for soybean cultivation.When considering soybean cultivation in those regions of Canada, many key traits must be considered. Two important considerations stand out: time of flowering and maturity, and resistance to soybean cyst nematode (SCN). Hence, the objectives of this Statement of ContributionI, Nour Nissan, performed all experiments, analyzed the data, created figures and tables, and wrote the entirety of this thesis. Dr. Bahram Samanfar supported this research through funding, guidance, editorial review, and approval of all written chapters. Major thanks to Dr. Elroy Cober for providing us with plant material for chapters one and two, and for his valuable comments on my written work, including my manuscripts and this thesis. Regarding chapters two and five, I would like to acknowledge Genome Quebec sequencing platform for their sequencing support, and Francois Lefebvre and his lab members lab for their RNA-seq preliminary data analysis. Last but not least, a big thank you to Dr. Benjamin Mimee for his wisdom regarding the analysis for chapters four and five.