Location: Soybean/maize Germplasm, Pathology, and Genetics Research
2021 Annual Report
Accomplishments
1. The USDA Soybean Germplasm Collection distributed 24,930 seed packets for FY21. One of only a few germplasm collections to distribute a greater number of seed packets than the total number of accessions we curated. ARS researchers at Urbana, Illinois, distributed 24,930 seed lots from 13,582 accessions from the USDA Soybean Germplasm Collection in response to 426 requests from 269 individuals. There were 381 domestic requests (89% of the total) with a total of 22,870 seed packets sent to researchers from 36 states. There were 2060 seed packets of 45 orders sent to scientists in 17 countries. Sixteen requests were made for 266 seed packets of 209 perennial Glycine accessions. The number of requests and diversity of requestors (public, private, international) highlights the need for unique soybean germplasm to fulfill basic and applied research goals, and the ability of the USDA Soybean Germplasm Collection at Urbana, Illinois to meet this need.
2. Identified unique, high-yielding soybean breeding lines. Genetic diversity among modern soybean cultivars is very narrow due to a strong historical emphasis on yield, limiting the potential to improve soybean for traits like increased seed protein or resistance to pests and diseases. ARS researchers at Urbana, Illinois, developed soybean lines that yield equivalent to commercial checks, despite having either inherited a large percentage (>50%) of their genes from exotic germplasm accessions, or having wild soybean ancestors. In the 2020 USDA Northern Uniform Soybean Tests, ARS researchers at Urbana, Illinois, submitted multiple soybean lines that finished in the top 50% of all entries for yield. This performance has resulted in seed requests from 14 Midwestern universities and private companies to request seed for testing and genetic improvement research. Getting this unique, diverse material into research programs that produce commercial soybean varieties will help broaden the genetic base of soybean in the United States.
3. Identified competitive soybean lines with elevated protein content. In the commercially available genetic base of soybean, higher yields are associated with lower protein content, to the extent that protein content has slowly been reduced. Soybean processors need a soybean meal with at least 48% protein. This can usually be achieved with soybean seed protein contents above 35%. Utilization of unique genes from exotic germplasm can make it possible to increase protein content without a corresponding yield loss. ARS scientists at Urbana, Illinois, developed and identified soybean lines with elevated protein content of 35-37% (commercial average is 33-34%) and yields comparable to commercial cultivars, including some containing 50% or greater exotic soybean germplasm. These included several lines that had a Glycine soja (wild soybean) accession as one of the parents. This indicates a substantial yield component is potentially being brought from the Glycine soja parent. This demonstrates that yield and protein can be increased in parallel by incorporating unique genes from diverse accessions in the USDA Soybean Germplasm Collection. Increasing genetic diversity in U.S. soybean breeding programs will benefit producers and breeders by introducing unique genes to enhance yield, resistance to disease, and important seed quality traits.
