Abstract
Cultivated soybean (Glycine max) is an economically important crop that is grown for its oil and protein products. A better knowledge of its genetic diversity will be valuable for the utilization, conservation, and management of germplasm collections. Using the database of the National Germplasm Evaluation Program of China (NGEPC), we studied the geographical distribution of accessions, the genetic diversity of 15 qualitative and quantitative characters, and the genetic diversity centers of cultivated soybean in China using variation in these 15 traits and genetic diversity indexes (Shannon index). Cultivated soybean is widely distributed throughout China. As an indication of its distribution, a line can be roughly drawn from the Daxinganling mountains in northeastern China to the Qingzang plateaus in southwestern China based on the abundance of accessions and locations of the collections. Of the 22,637 known accessions in China, the 20,570 collected over a vast area between latitudes 18° and 53°N and longitudes 80° and 136°E were used in this study. The Shannon indexes of various morphological traits were calculated. Cultivated soybean accessions were found to exhibit a higher genetic diversity in the area between 34°–41°N and 110°–115°E. On the basis of the geographical distribution of a number of accessions, and their genetic diversity, one genetic diversity center—downstream of the Yellow River Valley—is proposed. Based on these results and on Vavilov’s theory on crop origins, one possible diversity center was proposed.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abe J, Ohara M (1992) New electrophoretic mobility variations observed in wild soybean (G. soja) distributed in Japan and Korea. Soybean Genet Newsl 9:63–72
Chiang YC (1986) Genetic and quantitative variation in wild soybean (Glycine soja) populations. Diss Abstr Int B 47:2
Doldi ML, Vollmann J, Lelley T (1997) Genetic diversity in soybean as determined by RAPD and microsatellite analysis. Plant Breed 116:331–335
Dong YS (1998) Exploration on genetic diversity center for cultivated soybean in China. Chin Crops J 1:18–19
Dong YS, Zhuang BC, Zhao LM, Sun H, He MY (2001) The genetic diversity of annual wild soybean grown in China. Theor Appl Genet 103:98–103
Fukuda Y (1933) Cytogenetical studies on the wild and cultivated Manchurian soybean (Glycine L.). Jpn J Bot 6:489–506
Gorman MB (1984) An electrophoretic analysis of the genetic variation in the wild and cultivated soybean germplasm. Diss Abstr Int B 44:11
Hymowitz T (1970) On the domestication of the soybean. Econ Bot 23:408–421
Keim P, Beavis W, Schupp J, Freestone R (1992) Evaluation of soybean RFLP marker diversity in adapted germplasm. Theor Appl Genet 85:205–212
Kiang YT, Chiang YC, Kaizuma N (1992) Genetic diversity in natural populations of wild soybean in Iwate prefecture. J Hered 83:325–329
Lu SL (1978) Discuss about origin of cultivated soybean in China. Chin Agric Sci 4:90–94
Perry MC, McIntosh MS (1991) Geographical patterns of variation in the USDA soybean germplasm collection: I. Morphological traits. Crop Sci 31:1350–1355
Skorupska HT, Shoemaker RC, Warner A, Shipe ER, Bridges WC (1993) Restriction fragment length polymorphism in soybean germplasm of the southern USA. Crop Sci 336:1169–1176
Tang QY (1997) Data processing system. Chinese Agricultural Press, Beijing
Vaughan DA, Fukuoka S, Okuno K (1995) Population genetic diversity of wild soybeans on the Kanto plain, Japan. Soybean Gene Newsl 22:145–146
Vavilov NI (1973) The origin, variation, immunity and breeding of cultivated plants, vol 13. Ronald Press, New York
Wang JL (1973) The analysis on light ecological types for wild soybean in China. Genet Newsl 3:1–8
Wang LZ (1985) Origin and diffusion of soybean. Soybean Sci 4:1–7
Xu B (1986) Three new evidences for origin of soybean. Soybean Sci 5:123–130
Xu B (1993) Polymorphism and geographical distribution of protein content of wild soybean(Glycine soja) in China. FAO/IBPGR Plant Genet Resources Newsl 94/95:1–3
Xu B (1995) Geographical distribution and genetic diversity of seed traits of wild soybean in China. Acta Agron Sin 21:733–739
Yu HG, Kiang YT (1993) Genetic variation in South Korean natural populations of wild soybean (Glycine soja). Euphytica 68:213–221
Zhou XA (1998) The first discussion about center of genetic diversity of cultivated soybean in China. Chin Agric Sci 31:37–43
Acknowledgements
This study was supported by the “973” Grant (no. G1998010200) of China and the National Funds for Distinguished Young Scholars of China (no. 30225003).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Communicated by C. Möllers
Electronic Supplementary Material
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Dong, Y.S., Zhao, L.M., Liu, B. et al. The genetic diversity of cultivated soybean grown in China. Theor Appl Genet 108, 931–936 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-003-1503-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-003-1503-x