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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Pullman, Washington » Plant Germplasm Introduction and Testing Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #206485
Title: SSR diversity of vegetable soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.]

Author
item MIMURA, MAKIKO - UNIV OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
item Coyne, Clarice - Clare
item BAMBUCK, MARIE - WSU
item LUMPKIN, THOMAS - ASIAN VEG RESEARCH & DEV

Submitted to: Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/20/2006
Publication Date: 5/31/2006
Citation: Mimura, M., Coyne, C.J., Bambuck, M.W., Lumpkin, T.A. 2006. Ssr diversity of vegetable soybean [glycine max (l.) merr.]. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution. DOI: 10.1007/s10722-006-0006-4.

Interpretive Summary: The objectives of this study were to: (1) describe the genetic diversity among Japanese edamame and Chinese maodou and (2) fingerprint WSU breeding lines to distinguish them from the other edamame cultivars for Plant variety protection (PVP) using SSR DNA makers. This study reveals genetic structure among the accessions and will be useful for the selection of parents for future edamame breeding programs. Chinese, US, Canadian, and Korean soybean could be good sources of germplasm to broaden the genetic base, though careful selection from non-elite germplasm will be necessary, as edamame requires a very high-quality product to be competitive in the global edamame market.

Technical Abstract: Edamame [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] is a type of soybean selected for fresh or frozen vegetable use at an immature stage. Since edamame has a similar protein content, milder flavor, nuttier texture, and is easier to cook when compared to grain soybean, it is being promoted as a new vegetable for global consumption. Global production will require breeding programs for local adaptation; however, limited research has been published on genetic diversity of edamame varieties for the assessment of genetic resources. Simple sequence repeats (SSRs) were used to study the genetic diversity among 130 accessions, including edamame cultivars and landraces from Japan, China and the US, and also the new breeding lines in the US. Although it is assumed that elite edamame cultivars would have narrow genetic diversity, seventeen SSRs detected polymorphism to distinguish 99 of the 130 accessions. The cluster analysis generated nine clusters and 18 outliers. Genetic diversity within Japanese edamame was lower than that within Chinese vegetable soybean accessions (maodou), even though only 10 Chinese maodou were analyzed compared to 107 Japanese edamame. Cluster analysis revealed that the patterns of SSR diversity in edamame can generally distinguish maturity classes and testa color. We concluded that Japanese edamame have a narrow genetic base different from others and that SSRs can describe the patterns of genetic diversity among the elite vegetable soybean.