ARS | Publication request: Registration of N6202 soybean germplasm with high protein, good yield potential, large seed and diverse pedigree

Submitted to: Journal of Plant Registrations
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: November 5, 2009
Publication Date: January 1, 2010
Citation: Carter Jr, T.E., Rzewnicki, P.E., Burton, J.W., Villagarcia, M.R., Bowman, D.T., Taliercio, E.W., Kwanyuen, P. 2010. Registration of N6202 soybean germplasm with high protein, good yield potential, large seed and diverse pedigree. J. of Plant Registrations. 4:77-79.

Interpretive Summary: N6202 is a new soybean germplasm developed by USDA-ARS in 2009. It’s most important features are that it is adapted to the Southern USA, and has high-protein seed, good yield potential, and diverse pedigree. This desirable new breeding stock should be useful in applied soybean breeding programs in the USA. In performance trials over 43 southern environments in the southern USA, N6202’s seed protein content was 45.7% (zero moisture basis), which was higher than any other genetic materials included in the trials. N6202 yielded 92% of the highest-yielding control-cultivar, NC-Roy. Twenty-five percent of N6202’s pedigree is derived from the Japanese cultivar, Fukuyataka. Fukuyataka is not known to be related to the genetic base of US soybean. An additional 25% of N6202’s pedigree traces to the Japanese cultivar Nakasennari, which appears in the pedigree of only one previous U.S. cultivar. Thus, the release of N6202 broadens the genetic range of materials adapted for soybean breeding in the USA.

Technical Abstract: ‘N6202’ soybean [Glycine max (L.,) Merr.] was cooperatively developed and released by the USDA-ARS and the North Carolina Agricultural Research Service in 2009 as a Maturity Group VI germplasm with high-protein seed, good yield potential, large-seed size, and diverse pedigree. The unusual combination of high protein seed and good yield in this germplasm, plus its diverse genetic background, makes it a potentially desirable breeding stock for both specialty and commodity breeding programs. N6202 was developed through conventional breeding and is adapted to the southern USA between 33 and 37 ° N. latitude. In performance trials over 43 southern environments of the USDA Southern States Cooperative Uniform Soybean Yield Trials, N6202’s average seed protein level was 457 g kg-1 (zero moisture basis), which was 33 g kg-1 greater (p<0.05) than that of the control cultivar ‘NC-Roy’. N6202 yielded 92% of the highest-yielding control-cultivar NC-Roy (3254 kg ha-1) and 96 and 99% of controls ‘Boggs RR’ and ‘Dillon’, respectively. N6202 yielded 93% of NC-Roy in additional southern regional collaborative yield trials (13 environments), and 90% of NC-Roy in the official North Carolina State Variety trials (9 environments). The 100-seed weight of N6202 (21.4 g) was significantly greater (p<0.05) than that of the largest-seeded control cultivar Dillon (15.2 g), over 37 environments in USDA regional trials. Height, lodging, visual ratings of seed quality, and seed carbohydrate composition for N6202 were comparable to that of the control cultivar NC-Roy. Twenty-five percent of N6202’s pedigree is derived from the Japanese cultivar, Fukuyataka. Fukuyataka is not known to be related to the genetic base of US soybean. An additional 25% of N6202’s pedigree traces to the Japanese cultivar Nakasennari, which appears in the pedigree of only one U.S. cultivar (its parent ‘N6201’). Thus, the release of N6202 broadens the genetic range of materials adapted for soybean breeding in the USA. N6202 exhibits a moderate level of the bleeding hilum trait in some environments, and thus, may not be sufficiently free of the trait for most commercial soyfoods.