Abstract
Genetic improvement of the cultivated soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] may be possible through hybridization with its wild progenitor, G. soja Sieb. & Zucc. When useful genetic traits are found in the wild species, backcrossing is a method that may be useful for transferring the desired genes from G. soja to G. max. One objective of our study was to determine the number of generations of backcrossing necessary to recover the yield and agronomic performance of the cultivated parent following interspecific hybridization of the two species. A second objective was to determine if the yield potential of the recurrent parent in a backcrossing program could be enhanced by the introgression of G. soja germplasm. Two G. soja accessions were crossed to one of two high‐yielding G. max cultivars, followed by five backcrosses to the respective G. max parent. The F2 plants from the backcross populations were visually examined and selected for absence of vining, lack of hardseededness, shattering resistance, maturity, and seed coat color similar to the G. max parent. Progeny of selected plants from the backcross populations were evaluated for seed yield, maturity, lodging, and height in four environments during 2 years. Significant variation was observed among lines in each backcross generation for the four traits. The mean yield and lodging resistance of the populations improved from the BC1 to the BC4 generation. No line from the BC1 generation performed as well as the recurrent parent for all traits. Three backcrosses to the cultivated parent were necessary to obtain a reasonable number of lines similar to the recurrent parent. The introgression of G. soja germplasm into the two soybean cultivars was not an effective method for increasing their yield potential.
Published Version
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