Grant: Alliance Grants

There has been a growing concern regarding the narrow genetic base of the North American soybean germplasm, which can be potentially detrimental for further progress in soybean breeding and development of new high yielding and disease resistant cultivars. The best way to offset the possible reduction in future response selection and cultivar development is to seek and introgress novel genetic variation, including that from China as the centre of origin for soybean. Progress in improving yield, agronomic traits and disease resistance is dependent on the genetic variation available to breeding programs. Currently, Soybean Cyst Nematode (SCN), White Mould (WM) and Sudden Death Syndrome (SDS) are the three most damaging diseases affecting Canadian soybean production. The objectives of this project are to use: 1) Genome Wide Association Study (GWAS) to identify novel genes and alleles for yield and protein and oil content in soybean, derived from exotic modern Chinese cultivars from Northeast China; 2) GWAS to identify novel genes and alleles for resistance to SCN, WM and SDS derived from exotic Chinese sources in the genome diversity panel; 3) GWAS to search for drought tolerance as the main abiotic stress, and 4) Introgress (incorporate) novel yield, seed quality, SCN and SDS resistance into high yielding, disease resistant and diverse soybean cultivars adapted to Ontario. The results of this study will facilitate the broadening of the genetic base of Canadian soybeans, armed with new genes and alleles for resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses while maintaining and improving their production potential.