Introgression of a Danbaekkong high-protein allele across different genetic backgrounds in soybean

Renan Souza; M A Rouf Mian; Justin N Vaughn; Zenglu Li

doi:10.3389/fpls.2023.1308731

Introgression of a Danbaekkong high-protein allele across different genetic backgrounds in soybean

Front Plant Sci. 2023 Dec 20:14:1308731. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1308731. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Renan Souza¹, M A Rouf Mian², Justin N Vaughn^{1

3}, Zenglu Li¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, United States.
² Soybean and Nitrogen Fixation Research Unit, United States Department of Agriculture - Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS), Raleigh, NC, United States.
³ Genomics and Bioinformatics Research Unit, United States Department of Agriculture - Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS), Athens, GA, United States.

Abstract

Soybean meal is a major component of livestock feed due to its high content and quality of protein. Understanding the genetic control of protein is essential to develop new cultivars with improved meal protein. Previously, a genomic region on chromosome 20 significantly associated with elevated protein content was identified in the cultivar Danbaekkong. The present research aimed to introgress the Danbaekkong high-protein allele into elite lines with different genetic backgrounds by developing and deploying robust DNA markers. A multiparent population consisting of 10 F₅-derived populations with a total of 1,115 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) was developed using "Benning HP" as the donor parent of the Danbaekkong high-protein allele. A new functional marker targeting the 321-bp insertion in the gene Glyma.20g085100 was developed and used to track the Danbaekkong high-protein allele across the different populations and enable assessment of its effect and stability. Across all populations, the high-protein allele consistently increased the content, with an increase of 3.3% in seed protein. A total of 103 RILs were selected from the multiparent population for yield testing in five environments to assess the impact of the high-protein allele on yield and to enable the selection of new breeding lines with high protein and high yield. The results indicated that the high-protein allele impacts yield negatively in general; however, it is possible to select high-yielding lines with high protein content. An analysis of inheritance of the Chr 20 high-protein allele in Danbaekkong indicated that it originated from a Glycine soja line (PI 163453) and is the same as other G. soja lines studied. A survey of the distribution of the allele across 79 G. soja accessions and 35 Glycine max ancestors of North American soybean cultivars showed that the high-protein allele is present in all G. soja lines evaluated but not in any of the 35 North American soybean ancestors. These results demonstrate that G. soja accessions are a valuable source of favorable alleles for improvement of protein composition.

Keywords: Danbaekkong; chromosome 20 QTL; multiparent populations; seed protein; soybean; yield.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. Support of this research was provided by the United Soybean Board, the University of Georgia Research Foundation, and Georgia Agricultural Experiment Stations. This study was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior – Brasil (CAPES)– Finance Code 001 by providing a scholarship to the first author.