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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Ames, Iowa » Corn Insects and Crop Genetics Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #117692
Title: PRODUCTION AND EVALUATION OF HYBRID SOYBEAN

Author
item Palmer, Reid
item GAI, JUNYI - NANJING AG. UNIV., CHINA
item SUN, HUAN - JILIN ACAD. AG SCI, CHINA
item Burton, Joseph

Submitted to: Plant Breeding Reviews
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/22/2001
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Hybrids, which exploit the phenomenon termed hybrid vigor or heterosis, have proven to be a practical method of crop improvement. Hybrid autogamous legumes for commercialization have received limited attention. Soybean is an autogamous legume species. Manual cross-pollination to provide large quantities of hybrid seed is difficult and time consuming. This method is acceptable to plant breeding studies but is not acceptable for commercialization. Our goal was to review soybean flower morphology, pollination mechanisms within the genus Glycine, and present sources of male-sterile genes and cytoplasms, and to give examples of their use in plant breeding. The last section will cover heterosis in soybean and the potential for commercial production of hybrid soybean. The soybean flower has all the features that are in agreement with entomophilous characteristics of plants. In the United States, honeybees and alfalfa leafcutter bees, while certain native thrip species in China, may be the most effective in soybean cross-pollinations. Both nuclear and cytoplasmic-nuclear sterility systems are known. With appropriate selectable markers, nuclear systems may be successful. With appropriate restorer genes, nuclear-cytoplasmic systems could be successful. Both systems are under development for commercialization. The heterosis of various soybean parental combinations has not been adequately evaluated. Ten percent or more heterosis, when combined with "gene stacking", seems to be the preferred method for the first generation of commercially available soybean hybrids. The most formidable problem to commercial production is the difficulty in producing large quantities of hybrid seed.