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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Ames, Iowa » Corn Insects and Crop Genetics Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #70562
Title: MAPPING QTL FOR SEED PROTEIN AND OIL CONTENT IN EIGHT SOYBEAN POPULATIONS

Author
item BRUMMER, E - ISU
item GRAEF, G - UNIV OF NEBRASKA
item ORF, J - UNIV OF MINNESOTA
item Wilcox, James
item Shoemaker, Randy

Submitted to: Crop Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/12/1996
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Increased demand for high quality food products means that plant breeders need to be more efficient at creating new plant varieties. Unfortunately, this is not an easy task. Selecting the best genes from each plant and putting them together in a single variety often is a matter of luck. The authors have used a number of molecular laboratory techniques to 'tag' genes in soybean that control the amounts of protein and oil produced in the seed. This information can be used by breeders to manipulate the plant to produce higher quality and more quantity of protein and oil. This increased efficiency will result in more profit to growers and processors.

Technical Abstract: Soybean (Glycine max L.) seeds contain high levels of protein and oil useful for human consumption. Increasing emphasis in breeding programs to produce soybeans with specific protein or oil content for specialty markets demands that more efficient manipulation of these traits be achieved. The objective of this study was to evaluate eight different soybean populations from midwestern United States for genetic markers linked to seed protein and oil content. The populations derived from the breeding programs at the University of Minnesota, the University of Nebraska, and Purdue University/USDA-ARS. Each population consisted of between 69 and 100 individuals and was mapped with 21 to 85 RFLP (restriction fragment length polymorphism) probes. Populations were grown in field tests for three years in the state in which they originated. Single factor analysis of variance was used to detect significant associations between markers and traits. Quantitative trait loci (QTL) were identified for both protein and oil content. The identified QTL were sensitive to both environment and genetic background although some common QTL were identified in multiple populations over several years. The results show that a number of QTL affect these traits and that markers could potentially be used in breeding programs designed to alter the seed protein and oil content.