Location: Soybean and Nitrogen Fixation Research
Project Number: 6070-21220-070-021-A
Project Type: Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Oct 1, 2022
End Date: Sep 30, 2023
Objective:
1) Identify and incorporate newly discovered genes for drought tolerance. 2) Improve selection efficiency and methodology for selection for drought tolerance.
Approach:
Yield testing of a fibrous-rooting gene under irrigated and rain-fed conditions will be performed. The gene was incorporated into an elite background by MAS. Preliminary yield test identified the yield advantage of this gene under rainfed conditions. Near-isogenic lines for two major slow wilting genes were developed. Preliminary yield test identified that the two genes improved yield under rainfed conditions. GWAS will be performed to identify candidate genes associated with the slow wilting trait in a diverse set of ~440 lines with whole genome resequencing data. A GWAS will also be conducted to identify candidate genes associated with root traits in a diverse set of ~500 lines with whole genome resequencing data. The abundant genomic information of these lines will facilitate the identification of candidate genes regulating slow wilting and drought tolerance. QTL mapping will also be conducted in a recombinant inbred population to identify slow wilting genes for a drought tolerant parent. The discovery of those candidate genes will lead to the understanding of drought tolerance mechanisms and design of a genomic assisted breeding strategy. In addition, we will investigate the root traits of the four near-isogenic lines for the slow witling genes in the greenhouse to understand the drought tolerance mechanism.
