Genetic Characterization of Wild Soybean Collected from Zhejiang Province in China

TL;DR

This study analyzed 96 wild soybean samples from Zhejiang, China, to understand their genetic and phenotypic diversity for breeding purposes.

Contribution

The study provides new insights into the genetic and phenotypic variation of wild soybean in Zhejiang for breeding applications.

Findings

Most accessions had sooty seed coats and varied stem and leaf shapes.

Seed protein and oil contents averaged 45.4% and 10.0%, with significant differences based on seed size.

The 96 accessions clustered into three groups consistent with geographical and seed quality traits.

Abstract

Background/Objectives: Wild soybean could grow in different soil types and under diverse climate conditions, which provides rich genetic resources in the locality. It is important to understand the genetic diversity as well as phenotypic variation for soybean breeding. The objective of this study was to analyze the genetic and phenotypic characteristics of 96 wild soybean accessions collected in Zhejiang Province, and to explore the potential advantage of germplasm resources for further application. Methods: These 96 annual type soybean resources have been propagated, identified and evaluated in both 2022 and 2023. In addition, their agronomic, quality and genetic traits have been characterized. Results: Most of the accessions exhibited sooty seed coats with different stem and leaf shapes. The means of seed protein and oil contents were 45.4% and 10.0%, respectively. There were significant differences in both protein and oil contents based upon the seed size. The average number of alleles per loci was 3.96, and the average PIC value was 0.619. The 96 accessions were clustered into three different groups. Each group had a consistency with both the geographical sources and the seed quality traits. Conclusions: There were agronomic, quality and genetic variations of these wild soybean accessions by the comprehensive analyses. This study gave us a combined understanding of both phenotypic variation and genetic diversity of wild soybean accessions in Zhejiang. Therefore, both reasonable exchanging and crossing between different soybean types is highly recommended.

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