Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY
500 S LIMESTONE 109 KINKEAD HALL
LEXINGTON,KY 40526-0001
Performing Department
Plant and Soil Sciences
Non Technical Summary
Legumes represent the second most important family of crop plants, accounting for ~27% of the world's crop production. While some legumes, such as alfalfa and clovers, are grown as forages, most crop legumes are grown for harvesting their nutritious seeds. The legume seeds are contained in the pod, which is composed of a single seed-bearing carpel that, when matures, splits open along two seams, a process called pod dehiscence or pod shattering. Pod shattering before harvest is a serious problem that causes yield loss of grain legumes. Furthermore, the dominant shattering trait of the wild progenitors is also a limiting factor for efficient introgression of value-added traits into elite breeding lines. The overall goal of this proposal is to elucidate the genetic mechanisms underlying pod shattering in soybeans. Knowledge of the genetic mechanisms underlying pod shattering will facilitate the breeding of shattering-resistant varieties, expedite the introgression of agronomically favorable traits from wild species to elite breeding lines, and enrich our understanding of the evolution of seed dispersal and crop domestication in diverse crop species.
Animal Health Component
50%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
50%
Applied
50%
Developmental
0%
Goals / Objectives
Legumes represent the second most important family of crop plants, accounting for ~27% of the world's crop production. While some legumes, such as alfalfa and clovers, are grown as forages, most crop legumes are grown for harvesting their nutritious seeds. The legume seeds are contained in the pod, which is composed of a single seed-bearing carpel that, when matures, splits open along two seams, a process called pod dehiscence or pod shattering. Pod shattering before harvest is a serious problem that causes yield loss of grain legumes. Furthermore, the dominant shattering trait of the wild progenitors is also a limiting factor for efficient introgression of value-added traits into elite breeding lines. The overall goal of this proposal is to elucidate the genetic mechanisms underlying pod shattering in soybeans. Knowledge of the genetic mechanisms underlying pod shattering will facilitate the breeding of shattering-resistant varieties, expedite the introgression of agronomically favorable traits from wild species to elite breeding lines, and enrich our understanding of the evolution of seed dispersal and crop domestication in diverse crop species. The specific objectives of this proposal are: 1) Map-based cloning of a major quantitative trait locus (GmSH1) that regulates pod shattering in soybeans; 2) Molecular and functional characterization of GmSH1; and 3) Molecular diversity analysis at, and in the vicinity of, the GmSH1locus.
Project Methods
Genetic, genomic, and molecular approaches.