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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Urbana, Illinois » Soybean/maize Germplasm, Pathology, and Genetics Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #240559

Title: Collection, Conservation, and Evaluation of Soybean Germplasm

Author
item Nelson, Randall

Submitted to: Soybean Research World Conference Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/10/2009
Publication Date: 8/9/2009
Citation: Nelson, R.L. 2009. Collection, Conservation, and Evaluation of Soybean Germplasm [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the World Soybean Research Conference VIII,August 9-16, 2009, Beijing, China. 2009 CDROM.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: World-wide there are over 170,000 soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merr.) accessions held in more than 70 countries. There are certainly many duplications among these collections but perhaps as many as 30% of the accessions could be unique. Collection of primitive soybean varieties has occurred in all countries of ancient soybean cultivation but additional collection is very likely needed in some regions. There are only about 10% as many wild soybean (Glycine soja Sieb. & Zucc.) accessions as there are soybean accessions. Because of wild soybean germplasm is very difficult to successfully incorporate into soybean breeding programs, extensive collection of wild soybean may not have received as much attention. Collection of wild soybean is also more difficult because seeds can be harvested only during a short time. Expansion of wild soybean collections should be a priority. Conservation of genetic resources requires periodic regeneration of seeds to ensure viability and the maintenance of the genetic diversity of each accession. Self pollination species such as soybean and wild soybean can be maintained as either pure lines or mixed seed lots. These conservation strategies will be discussed. The utility of germplasm collections is greatly enhanced by extensive evaluation data. Technology is now available and becoming more affordable that will allow for thousands of accessions to be characterized with thousands of DNA markers. These genetic evaluations combined with the knowledge gained from the soybean sequence will greatly increase the efficiency of germplasm utilization in the future.