Identifying new variation at the J locus, previously identified as e6, in long juvenile ‘Paranagoiana’ soybean

Citation

Nissan, N., Cober, E.R., Sadowski, M., Charette, M., Golshani, A., Samanfar, B. (2021). Identifying new variation at the J locus, previously identified as e6, in long juvenile ‘Paranagoiana’ soybean. Theoretical and Applied Genetics (TAG), [online] 134(4), 1007-1014. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00122-020-03746-2

Plain language summary

Soybean seeds contain large amounts of oil and protein making it an important and valuable crop in human food and animal feed. Additionally, it is a top exported crop in many countries making up billions of dollars’ worth of exports every year. Soybean is a short-day plant which means it flowers quicker in 12 hours of daylength or less. For tropical adaptation, it is important to identify genes responsible for delayed flowering under short-day conditions which allow a longer period of time growing and result in increased yield. Two major DNA regions (loci) have been identified as involved in delaying flowering under short-day conditions, E6 and J. These two loci were always mentioned together in literature, and it was unknown if they represented two separate genes, or if they were the same gene. We identified E6 to be an allelic variation of J and deemed it “j-x”, finally closing the gap and answering the question which has been puzzling soybean biologists for years. This will allow us to better understand the soybean varieties with this delayed flowering trait. The plan moving forward is to keep continue identifying genes/alleles involved in economically important traits to aid soybean farmers.

Abstract

Key message: A previously identified soybean maturity locus, E6, is discovered to be J, with the long juvenile allele in Paranagoiana now deemed j−x. Abstract: Soybean grown at latitudes of ~20° or lower can produce lower grain yields due to the short days. This limitation can be overcome by using the long juvenile trait (LJ) which delays flowering under short day conditions. Two LJ loci have been mapped to the same location on Gm04, J and E6. The objective of this research was to investigate the e6 allele in ‘Paranagoiana’ and determine if E6 and J are the same locus or linked loci. KASP markers showed that e6 lines did not have the j−1 allele of LJ PI 159925. A population fixed for E1 but segregating for E6, with e6 introgressed from Paranagoiana, showed single gene control for flowering and maturity under short days. Sequencing Glyma.04G050200, the J gene, with long amplification Taq found that the e6 line ‘Paranagoiana’ contains a Ty1-copia retrotransposon of ~10,000 bp, inserted within exon 4. PCR amplification of the cDNA of Glyma.04G050200 also showed differences between the mRNA sequences (presence of insertion in j−x). Hence, we conclude that the loci E6 and J are one locus and deem this new variation found in Paranagoiana as j−x.

Publication date

2021-04-01