New Soy Germplasm Lines Available for
Breeding By Jan
Suszkiw July 14, 2004
High-quality seed--and plenty of it--could be on tap for new
soybean cultivars bred from three new germplasm lines developed by
Agricultural Research Service scientists
and cooperators.
The new soy releases--LG97-7012, LG98-1445 and LG98-1605--are
the result of a 20-year cooperative effort in which ARS and
University of Illinois scientists
crossbred commercial varieties with exotic strains of the bean maintained at
the ARS Soybean/Maize
Germplasm, Pathology and Genetics Research Unit in Urbana, Ill.
Besides increased yield, the germplasm releases should help
broaden the genetic base of the nation's $15.2 billion soy crop, according to
Randall Nelson, who leads the ARS unit and curates USDA's
Soybean
Germplasm Collection at Urbana.
The first two releases owe 25 percent of their genetic makeup to
Asian beans collected in the 1930s and 1950s. The third, LG98-1605, is 100
percent exotic, making it only the second germplasm release of its kind to be
released for use by U.S. breeders, according to Nelson.
Of the three, LG98-1445 had the highest average seed yield
during field trials in 2001 and 2002 at 28 different locations in 10 states.
The release also outperformed the commercial check variety used in those tests.
LG97-7012, but not the other two releases, is resistant to the
fungus Phytophthora sojae, which can cause root and stem rots. The three
releases are intended as germplasm stock for breeding new, finished varieties.
Read more
about the research in this month's issue of
Agricultural Research
magazine.
ARS is the U.S. Department of
Agriculture's chief scientific research agency. |