Allele mining for yield, resistance to soybean cyst nematode and sudden death syndrome using a genetic diversity panel of soybeans derived from Canadian and Chinese crosses

Lead Applicant: Istvan Rajcan

Research Priority: Innovative Products & Product Improvement

Program Type: Tier 1

Funding Cycle: 2024/2025

Research Centre: Ontario Crops Research Centre – Elora

Research Summary: There has been a growing concern regarding the narrowness of the North American soybean germplasm with its potentially detrimental implications highlighted as a call-to-action. The objectives of this project are to 1) use 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) use GWAS to identify novel genes and alleles for resistance to Soybean Cyst Nematode (SCN) and Sudden Death Syndrome (SDS) derived from exotic Chinese sources in the genome diversity panel and; 3) incorporate novel yield, seed quality, SCN and SDS resistance into high yielding and disease resistant diverse food grade soybean cultivars adapted to Ontario.