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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Stoneville, Mississippi » Crop Genetics Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #339045
Title: Evaluation of Soybean Breeding Lines for Seed Germination and Composition under High Heat and Dryland Production in the Midsouthern USA

Author
item Bellaloui, Nacer
item Smith, James - Rusty
item Mengistu, Alemu
item Ray, Jeffery - Jeff
item Gillen, Anne

Submitted to: American Society of Plant Biologists Annual Meeting
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/9/2017
Publication Date: 4/9/2017
Citation: Bellaloui, N., Smith, J.R., Mengistu, A., Ray, J.D., Gillen, A.M. 2017. Evaluation of Soybean Breeding Lines for Seed Germination and Composition under High Heat and Dryland Production in the Midsouthern USA. American Society of Plant Biologists Annual Meeting. 18.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Although the Early Soybean Production System (ESPS) in the Midsouthern USA increased seed yield under irrigated and non-irrigated conditions, heat stress and drought still lead to poor seed quality in heat sensitive soybean cultivars. The objective of this research was to identify breeding lines that possess high germination, nutritional quality, and yield potential under high heat and dryland production conditions. We hypothesized that breeding lines derived from exotic germplasm may possess physiological and genetic traits that could result in higher seed germinability under high heat conditions. A two-year non-irrigated 'eld experiment was conducted using maturity groups (MG) III and IV breeding lines derived from exotic soybean accessions previously selected for adaptability to the ESPS. Results showed that three exotic breeding lines had consistently higher germination across the 2 years, with a mean germination percentage of =80%. Two out of the three lines with =80% germination had high seed protein, oleic acid, N, P, K, B, Cu, and Mo in both years. Signi'cant (P= 0.05) positive correlations were found between germination and oleic acid and between germination and K and Cu in both years. However, signi'cant negative correlations were observed between germination and linoleic acid, Ca, and hard seed in both years. The high germinability genotypes had a lower content of Ca in the seed, which may explain the lower rates of hard seed in those lines. Differences in yield, germination, diseases, and seed composition between years could be due to heat and rainfall differences between years, as well as to genotypic differences among lines. The use of the high germinability lines identified in this research will help breeders to develop improved soybeans with high seed nutritional qualities and high germinability under dryland production conditions.