ARS | Publication request: Molecular mapping of the mutant fap4(A24) allele for elevated palmitate concentration in soybean

Submitted to: Crop Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: August 6, 2012
Publication Date: August 21, 2012
Citation: Oltmans-Deardorff, S.E., Fehr, W.R., Welke, G.A., Shoemaker, R.C., Graham, M.A. 2012. Molecular mapping of the mutant fap4(A24) allele for elevated palmitate concentration in soybean. Crop Science. DOI:10.2135/cropsci2012.04.0230.

Interpretive Summary: Soybean oil that is high in the fatty acid palmitate is more shelf-stable than low palmitate oils. Additionally, high palmitate oil may be useful for some food and industrial applications. Breeding for high palmitate can be an expensive process. It would be useful to have molecular markers that could assist breeders in selecting for this trait. In this study the authors mapped the location of a mutation that causes high palmitate in soybean oil. They also created a new molecular marker that segregates perfectly with the high palmitate trait making the marker perfect for marker assisted selection in breeding programs. This information will be useful for soybean breeders who are interested in producing high palmitate breeding lines.

Technical Abstract: Soybean [Glycine max L. Merr.] oil with an elevated palmitate concentration is useful for some food and industrial applications. The objective of this study was to map the genetic location of the fap4(A24) allele that controls an increase in palmitate concentration and to identify molecular markers that can be used for marker-assisted selection (MAS) of the allele. A cross was made between the mutant line A24(fap4fap4) and the cultivar Archer(Fap4Fap4), and DNA was collected from 22 F4 plants with normal palmitate and 22 F4 plants with elevated palmitate concentration. The DNA samples were analyzed on the soybean single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) chip developed by Monsanto Co. Publicly available simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers were used to fine map the allele. Based on these molecular analyses, the fap4(A24) allele was mapped to chromosome 3 (Linkage Group N) in an area between SSRs BARCSOYSSR_03_1260 and BARCSOYSSR_03_1313. Seven SSRs and a SNP were identified in the region that perfectly differentiated the plants that were homozygous for the fap4(A24) allele for elevated palmitate or the Fap4 allele for normal palmitate. The public SNP and SSRs should be useful for MAS of the fap4(A24) allele in segregating populations.