Improved seed composition in soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] for protein and oil
quality is one of the major goals of soybean breeders. A group of genes that
act as quantitative traits with their effects can alter protein, oil, palmitic,
stearic, oleic, linoleic, and linolenic acids percentage in soybean seeds. The
objective of this study was to identify
Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL)
controlling protein, oil, and fatty acids content in a set of F5:8 RILs derived from a cross between lines, ‘MD 96-5722’ and ‘Spencer’ using 5376
Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP)
markers from the Illumina Infinium SoySNP6K BeadChip array. QTL analysis used
WinQTL Cart 2.5 software for composite interval mapping (CIM). Identified, were; one protein content QTL on linkage group (LG-) B2 or chromosome (Chr_)
14; 11 QTL associated with oil content on six linkage groups LG-N (Chr_3),
LG-A1 (Chr_5), LG-K (Chr_9), LG-F (Chr_13), LG-B2 (Chr_14), and LG-J (Chr_16);
and sixteen QTL for five major fatty acids (palmitic,
stearic, oleic, linoleic, and linolenic acids) on LG-N (Chr_3), LG-F (Chr_13),
LG-B2 (Chr_14), LG-E (Chr_15), LG-J (Chr_16), and LG-G (Chr_18). The SNP
markers closely linked to the QTL reported here will be useful for development
of cultivars with altered oil and fatty acid compositions in soybean breeding
programs.