Frontiers in Plant Science (Aug 2021)

Speed-Breeding System in Soybean: Integrating Off-Site Generation Advancement, Fresh Seeding, and Marker-Assisted Selection

  • Yudong Fang,
  • Yudong Fang,
  • Liwei Wang,
  • Liwei Wang,
  • Enoch Sapey,
  • Enoch Sapey,
  • Shuai Fu,
  • Shuai Fu,
  • Tingting Wu,
  • Tingting Wu,
  • Haiyan Zeng,
  • Haiyan Zeng,
  • Xuegang Sun,
  • Xuegang Sun,
  • Shuqing Qian,
  • Shuqing Qian,
  • Mohammad Abdul Awal Khan,
  • Mohammad Abdul Awal Khan,
  • Shan Yuan,
  • Shan Yuan,
  • Cunxiang Wu,
  • Cunxiang Wu,
  • Wensheng Hou,
  • Wensheng Hou,
  • Shi Sun,
  • Shi Sun,
  • Tianfu Han,
  • Tianfu Han

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2021.717077
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12

Abstract

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Speed breeding by artificial control of photothermal conditions facilitates generation advancement but was limited in scale and cost. In this study, we demonstrated a cost-saving off-site summer nursery pattern, taking full advantage of shorter daylength and higher temperature with lower latitude compared to the origin of the soybean cultivars used in the study. This substantially reduced the generation cycles under totally natural conditions. Using this approach, two generations of soybean cultivars from Northeastern Spring Planting Region (NE) and Yellow-Huai-Hai Valleys Summer Planting Region (YHH) were successfully obtained in Beijing and Hainan, respectively, compared to one generation in origin. Fresh-seeding method was also used to further shorten the generation duration by 7–10 days, thereby allowing at least four generations per year. Using DNA markers to define haplotypes of maturity genes E1–E4, we proposed a model to predict the optimum adaptation region of the advanced generation lines. Taken together, we present a speed-breeding methodology combining off-site nursery, fresh-seeding method, and marker-assisted selection, aimed at accelerating soybean improvement.

Keywords