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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Raleigh, North Carolina » Soybean and Nitrogen Fixation Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #355156
Research Project: Exploiting Genetic Diversity through Genomics, Plant Physiology, and Plant Breeding to Increase Competitiveness of U.S. Soybeans in Global Markets

Location: Soybean and Nitrogen Fixation Research

Title: The ionome of a genetically diverse set of wild soybean accessions

Author
item Taliercio, Earl
item SCABOO, ANDREW - University Of Missouri
item BAXTER, IVAN - Danforth Plant Science Center
item Locke, Anna

Submitted to: Crop Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/12/2019
Publication Date: 8/15/2019
Citation: Taliercio, E.W., Scaboo, A., Baxter, I., Locke, A.M. 2019. The ionome of a genetically diverse set of wild soybean accessions. Crop Science. 59:1983-1991. https://doi.org/10.2135/cropsci2019.02.0079.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2135/cropsci2019.02.0079

Interpretive Summary: We have measured the concentration of 19 elements in a set of wild soybean (Glycine soja) selected for maximum genetic diversity. The concentration of all elements were influenced by the environment they were grown in. The environmental influence is likely due to differences in soil nutrition, water availability and temperature variation among environments. The concentration of 17 elements were also substantially impacted by genetic variation indicating that traits affecting elemental composition could be inherited from wild soybean. A region on chromosome 10 was found to be associated with elevated S levels and therefore may be valuable in improving the amount of S and S-containing amino acids in soybeans. Overall these experiments indicate that wild soybean is a valuable genetic resource to improve the nutritional content of domesticated soybean.

Technical Abstract: Soybean (Glycine max) is an important crop that provides oil and protein for fuel, food and feed around the world. The limited genetic diversity of domesticated soybean threatens future yield and limits breeders’ ability to optimize the nutrient composition of soybean. Glycine soja is a wild relative of soybean that is substantially more genetically and phenotypically diverse than domesticated soybean. Recent breeding advances have overcome many of the challenges of breeding with G. soja. Genomics and publically available marker data facilitated the identification of a genetically diverse core set from the USDA G. soja germplasm collection and allowed the identification of progeny that capture the valuable genetic diversity present in the wild germplasm. Agronomically valuable seed composition traits have been identified among wild soybean accessions. We extend these observation to include the seed ionome of 80 wild soybean accessions. Measurement of the concentrations of 19 elements from wild soybean seeds and 13 G. max accessions from multiple environments show that 17 of the element levels have heritabilities ranging from 0.33 to 0.95 and are substantially influenced by the environment. The average concentrations of 14 elements were higher in the wild soybean than domesticated soybean and many also varied among maturity groups. Genetic markers potentially associated with improved mineral composition of Glycine seed have also been identified. This variation may be sufficient to improve mineral content of soy meal. Notably, an element with higher levels in G. soja was sulfur. S levels correlate with total protein levels and S-containing amino acids. These observations may be used by breeders to improve the protein content and composition of soybean.