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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Raleigh, North Carolina » Soybean and Nitrogen Fixation Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #309660
Title: Registration of N6001 soybean germplasm with enhanced yield derived from Japanese cultivar Suzuyutaka

Author
item Carter Jr, Thomas
item Todd, Steven
item Gillen, Anne

Submitted to: Journal of Plant Registrations
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/26/2014
Publication Date: 1/1/2015
Citation: Carter Jr, T.E., Todd, S.M., Gillen, A.M. 2015. Registration of N6001 soybean germplasm with enhanced yield derived from Japanese cultivar Suzuyutaka. Journal of Plant Registrations. doi: 10.3198/jpr2014.09.0057crg.

Interpretive Summary: As the 21st century advances, increasing world population and expanding prosperity will increase the need for food, feed, and other agricultural products. To meet rising demand, improved technologies will have to be deployed to increase agricultural productivity. USDA-ARS plant breeders are developing new genetic resources with the enhanced yield needed to meet these needs. The soybean germplasm N6001, recently developed by USDA-ARS, a part of this continuing effort, incorporates new genetics from its exotic grandparent, the Japanese cultivar ‘Suzuyutaka’, to broaden the genetic base of the American soybean breeding pool. In field trials across the South, N6001 yielded 108% of Young, the adapted US parent used as the starting point of the breeding effort. The increased yield of N6001 over its American parent demonstrates that exotic soybean germplasm contains alleles/genes that can increase the yield ceiling of American cultivars. Such clear agronomic and economic benefit from exotic genetics is rarely observed and constitutes an important practical breakthrough.

Technical Abstract: The genetic base of U.S. soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) is relatively narrow, with Chinese ancestors providing most of the genetic base. Japanese lines have made relatively small contributions, suggesting that incorporation of novel Japanese genetics into USA breeding populations may aid soybean improvement. N6001 is a conventional soybean germplasm of group VI maturity released by USDA-ARS and the North Carolina ARS in September 2014. N6001 traces 25% of its pedigree to Japanese cultivar ‘Suzuyutaka’ and 75% to U.S. cultivar ‘Young’. This is the first incorporation of genetics from Suzuyutaka into North American germplasm. N6001 was yield-tested across the Southeastern USA in the United Soybean Board Southern Diversity Yield Trial Project (Diversity Trials) and in the USDA Uniform Soybean Tests – Southern States (Uniform Tests). N6001 yielded 8.9% greater (p<0.05) and had comparable protein content to Young in the Uniform Tests and yielded 8.7% greater (p<0.05) than Young in the Diversity Trials. Over 24 environments, N6001 yielded 98% of elite check cultivar NC-Roy. The improved performance of N6001 over its adapted parent and near parity with NC-Roy indicate that yield enhancing alleles were likely transferred from the Japanese cultivar to N6001. The maintenance of seed protein content with increased yield in N6001 suggests that these genetics may help mitigate the typical negative relation between seed protein content and seed yield.