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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Raleigh, North Carolina » Soybean and Nitrogen Fixation Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #322250
Title: Registration of ‘USDA-N8002’ soybean cultivar with high yield and abiotic stress resistance traits

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: 3/23/2016
Publication Date: 6/14/2016
Citation: Carter Jr, T.E., Todd, S.M., Gillen, A.M. 2016. Registration of ‘USDA-N8002’ soybean cultivar with high yield and abiotic stress resistance traits. Journal of Plant Registrations. 10:238-245.

Interpretive Summary: Farmers, and the researchers who support them, have kept Americans well-fed for decades, but every year, new challenges threaten this critical component of American security and prosperity. Chief among them are summer drought and heat, which limit crop yields. To ensure a steady food supply, USDA-ARS breeders are developing new soybean cultivars to help growers withstand summer drought stress. N8002 is a new soybean cultivar developed by USDA breeders that combines exotic genetics and drought resistance to create a high-yielding soybean adapted to the Southeastern USA. Under drought conditions, N8002 wilts slowly and continues to fix nitrogen; two traits that can help farmers maintain yield in dry seasons. N8002 was tested across the Southeastern USA and yielded 5% greater than the elite variety N8001. The high yield of N8002, combined with its drought resistance traits, can help farmers maintain the high levels of production needed for food security, even during dry years.

Technical Abstract: ‘N8002’ is a conventional maturity-group (MG) VIII soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] cultivar released by the USDA-ARS in September 2015. N8002 is the first North American MG VIII soybean cultivar exhibiting drought resistance traits and high yield potential. It is the first U.S. release derived from Plant Introduction (PI) 471938 (25% by pedigree) and the second in MG VIII derived from PI 416937 (12.5% by pedigree). N8002 exhibits slow- or delayed- canopy-wilting, sustained N fixation during drought stress, and a water-conserving transpiration response when exposed to atmospheric vapor pressure deficit (VPD). N8002 is an F4-derived cultivar from the hybridization of USDA-ARS cultivar ‘N7002’ and USDA-ARS breeding line N98-7265. Across 74 environments in the Southeastern USA, N8002 yielded 7% greater (p>0.05) than the check cultivar N8001 in the USDA Uniform Soybean Tests – Southern States, MG VIII (Uniform Tests), 5% greater in the North Carolina Official Variety Tests, MG VII-VIII (NC-OVT) (p<0.05) and 5% greater in the United Soybean Board Southern Soybean Diversity Yield Trials MGVII-VIII (Diversity Trials) (p=0.09). N8002 was also numerically superior to N8001 in 9 of 10 location/planting date combinations employed in the Uniform Tests, averaged over multiple years for each combination. The diverse ancestry, drought resistance, and high yield potential of this release suggest it can provide new options for soybean breeding and production in the Southeastern USA.