Quantitative trait loci associated with soybean seed weight and composition under different phosphorus levels

Abstract

Seed size and composition are important traits in food crops and can be affected by nutrient availability in the soil. Phosphorus (P) is a non-renewable, essential macronutrient, and P deficiency limits soybean (Glycine max) yield and quality. To investigate the associations of seed traits in low- and high-P environments, soybean recombinant inbred lines (RILs) from a cross of cultivars Fiskeby III and Mandarin (Ottawa) were grown under contrasting P availability environments. Traits including individual seed weight, seed number, and intact mature pod weight were significantly affected by soil P levels and showed transgressive segregation among the RILs. Surprisingly, P treatments did not affect seed composition or weight, suggesting that soybean maintains sufficient P in seeds even in low-P soil. Quantitative trait loci (QTLs) were detected for seed weight, intact pods, seed volume, and seed protein, with five significant QTLs identified in low-P environments and one significant QTL found in the optimal-P environment. Broad-sense heritability estimates were 0.78 (individual seed weight), 0.90 (seed protein), 0.34 (seed oil), and 0.98 (seed number). The QTLs identified under low P point to genetic regions that may be useful to improve soybean performance under limiting P conditions.

Identification of quantitative trait loci underlying soybean (Glycine max) 100‐seed weight under different levels of phosphorus fertilizer application

“…Therefore, improving P efficiency has become an important target in breeding programmes seeking to improve soybean production. QTL mapping in relation to low P tolerance in soybean have been conducted (Hacisalihoglu et al., 2018; Li et al., 2005; Song et al., 2014; Yang et al., 2019; Zhang, Cheng, et al., 2009; Zhang, Li, et al., 2016; Zhang, Liu, et al., 2009; Zhang et al., 2014; Zhang, Zhang, et al., 2016). By combining linkage analysis and genome‐wide association study (GWAS), Zhang et al.…”

Identification of additive and epistatic effects QTLs for seed oil content in soybean based on an integrating map of two RIL populations

“…Using molecular markers for indirect selection of important agronomic traits, and molecular marker-assisted selection (MAS) could improve the e ciency of traditional plant breeding [5,6]. In last three decade years, numerous quantitative trait loci (QTL) for oil content in soybean seed have been reported [5,[7][8][9][10][11][12][13], about 327 oil QTLs listed in the Soybase Database (http://www.soybase.org). And a few soybean oil content QTLs have been identi ed in multi-environment and multi-genetic backgrounds [5,7,14].…”

Identification of major QTLs associated with agronomical traits and candidate gene mining in soybean

“…Wu et al [15] integrated QTLs from soybean at different growth stages and identified 10 QTLs controlling multiple growth stages in five linkage groups (C2, D1a, D1b, F and J). Hacisalihoglu et al [16] performed QTL mapping of a soybean RIL population grown in environments with different levels of P availability, and found that QTLs controlling seed quality and volume on Gm06 shared overlapping regions. The use of these types of loci could help improve multiple agronomic traits in soybean, thereby increasing the yield and quality of this important crop.…”