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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Raleigh, North Carolina » Soybean and Nitrogen Fixation Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #215157
Title: REGISTRATION OF SOYBEAN CULTIVAR ‘N8001’

Author
item Carter Jr, Thomas
item Burton, Joseph
item Fountain, Myron
item Rzewnicki, Philippe
item Villagarcia, Margarita
item BOWMAN, DARYL - N.C. STATE UNIV

Submitted to: Journal of Plant Registrations
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/1/2007
Publication Date: 1/1/2008
Citation: Carter Jr, T.E., Burton, J.W., Fountain, M.O., Rzewnicki, P.E., Villagarcia, M.R., Bowman, D.T. 2008. Registration of soybean cultivar ‘N8001’. Journal of Plant Registrations, 2: 22-23.

Interpretive Summary: Soybean breeding is a true success story in U.S. agriculture. Since World War II, soybean breeding has raised farm yields 25% and provided farmers with genetic protection for an array of important diseases. The current vitality enjoyed by the soybean industry is due largely to successes in the breeding arena. More than 40 commercial companies and public institutions now develop varieties for the 70+ million acres of U.S. soybean. Despite the remarkable achievements of U.S. soybean breeding, it is more difficult each year to maintain a competitive edge against international producers. U.S. breeders are attempting to solve this problem, using an important tactic known as offensive breeding (raising the genetic yield ceiling for soybean production). Current research suggests that U.S. breeders now have the opportunity to enhance our offensive breeding capabilities by tapping into the reservoir of global genetic diversity that exists in soybean. Dr. Carter has been conducting an extensive breeding program to do just this. This effort has led to the release of an exciting new soybean cultivar which is a top yielder and also brings an important new source of genetic diversity to the farmer. This cultivar, N8001, is one of the few soybean cultivars to be released with 25% exotic germplasm in its pedigree. This cultivar is not only valuable as product for the farmer to grow but also provides a proof of concept for other breeders who seek to speed up their breeding programs. It is expected that this new cultivar will be used widely in the commercial sector as a parent in future breeding efforts.

Technical Abstract: Soybean cultivar ‘N8001’ is a determinate group VIII maturity soybean cultivar that has excellent yield potential. Twenty-five percent of its parentage is exotic germplasm. Few soybean cultivars produced in USA have this level of genetic diversity, and thus, its release broadens the genetic base of soybean cultivars. N7002 is adapted to the southern USA (30° to 35º N latitude) or wherever cultivars of group VIII maturity are produced. N8001 is an F4-derived selection from the cross of USDA cultivar ‘N7001’ and ‘Cook’. N7001 was derived by crossing USDA breeding line, N77-114, to a landrace from Japan, Plant Introduction 416937 (USDA, 2005). The PI 416937 appears distinctly different from the previous ancestors of North American soybean in that it has much larger leaves and a more prolific rooting system (Pantalone et al.,1996 a,b). N7001 was the first public cultivar released in USA with this PI in its pedigree. N8001 was evaluated in 48 environments in the USDA-ARS Southern Region Uniform Group VIII Test during 2000 – 2005. The maturity of N8001 was similar to that of Cook, the standard control cultivar for the USDA-ARS Southern Region Uniform Group VIII Test. N8001 lodged similarly to Cook. Yield of N8001 (2999 kg ha-1) was 217 kg ha-1 greater than Cook (2,782 kg ha-1). The 100-seed weight of N8001 (14.8 g) was similar to that of Cook (15.2 g). Seed protein content of N8001 (410 g kg-1) was lower than that of Cook (418 g kg-1), on a zero moisture basis. N8001 had less seed oil content (190 g kg-1) than Cook (193 g kg-1).