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Recent Advances in Soybean Molecular Breeding

A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Plant Sciences".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 May 2025 | Viewed by 273

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Oil Crops Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agriculture Sciences, Wuhan 430062, China
Interests: soybean; molecular breeding; plant architecture

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Soybean, an economically relevant legume crop, is widely cultivated due to its edible oil and protein content. In recent years, researchers have endeavored to increase the yield of soybean under various growth conditions.

This Special Issue, entitled “Recent Advances in Soybean Molecular Breeding”, aims to promote strategies that enhance the yield of soybean in response to the growth of the global population and changing climatic conditions. We therefore welcome contributions that address the following topics:

  • Altering plant architecture to improve yield performance;
  • Improving varieties to expand cultivation areas;
  • Enhancing nutritional quality;
  • Increasing tolerance to stress;
  • Genetic engineering for soybean improvement.

This Special Issue aims to highlight recent breakthroughs and innovative methods related to the breeding and genetics of soybean.

Dr. Dong Cao
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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Keywords

  • soybean
  • plant architecture
  • adaptation
  • yield improvement, molecular breeding
  • nutritional quality traits
  • stress tolerance

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

17 pages, 4291 KiB  
Article
Natural Variations in Key Maturity Genes Underpin Soybean Cultivars Adaptation Beyond 50° N in Northeast China
by Hongchang Jia, Baiquan Sun, Bingjun Jiang, Peiguo Wang, Mahmoud Naser, Shuqing Qian, Liwei Wang, Lixin Zhang, Mikhail Sinegovskii, Shi Sun, Wencheng Lu, Valentina Sinegovskaya, Jiangping Bai and Tianfu Han
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2025, 26(7), 3362; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms26073362 - 3 Apr 2025
Viewed by 140
Abstract
Expanding soybean planting is vital for food security both in China and globally. The 50° N latitude serves as the northern boundary of major soybean regions. However, enhancing the adaptability of soybean to photothermal conditions enables the potential to extend cultivation to higher [...] Read more.
Expanding soybean planting is vital for food security both in China and globally. The 50° N latitude serves as the northern boundary of major soybean regions. However, enhancing the adaptability of soybean to photothermal conditions enables the potential to extend cultivation to higher latitudes and altitudes. Understanding the genetic basis of super-early maturity of soybean is crucial to achieving this goal. In this study, 438 soybean germplasms collected from high-latitude regions were evaluated in Heihe (HH) (50°15′ N, 127°28′ E, 154 m), Beijicun (BJC) (53°28′ N, 122°21′ E, 295 m) and Labudalin (LBDL) (50°15′ N, 120°19′ E, 577 m). Using resequencing data, we analyzed natural variation and haplotypes in 35 key genes associated with flowering time and maturity. The results showed that the relative maturity groups (RMGs) for BJC, HH, and LBDL were −1.0, 0.0, and −1.2, respectively. Among the 35 genes analyzed, 23 had identical allelic variations, while 12 genes exhibited 19 SNPs and four InDels. Functional mutations were identified in E1, E2, E3, and E4. Notably, all cultivars carried the e1-as allele of E1, which is likely critical for high-latitude adaptation. Additional mutations included a single-base substitution in E2 (16142 A > T) and E3 (5203 C > T), causing premature codon termination, along with frameshift mutations in E4 (3726 and 4099) and E3 (2649). Haplotype analysis revealed significant differences in growth stages among nine gene haplotypes. The higher frequency of early-maturing haplotypes in BJC and LBDL highlights the role of gene accumulation in soybean adaptation. These findings offer valuable insights for improving soybean maturity and expanding its cultivation in high-latitude regions of China. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Soybean Molecular Breeding)
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