Registration of N6001 Soybean Germplasm with Enhanced Yield Derived from Japanese Cultivar Suzuyutaka

Abstract

The genetic base of US soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] is relatively narrow and derived primarily from Chinese ancestors. Since Japanese lines have been an underutilized resource, their incorporation into US breeding populations may aid soybean improvement. N6001 (Reg No. GP-396, PI 674170) is a conventional soybean germplasm of group VI maturity released by the USDA–ARS and the North Carolina Agricultural Research Service in September 2014. N6001 traces 25% of its pedigree to Japanese cultivar Suzuyutaka and 75% to US cultivar Young. This is the first release of a germplasm derived from Suzuyutaka, which is adapted to North America. N6001 was yield-tested across the southeastern United States in the United Soybean Board Southern Diversity Yield Trial Project and in the USDA Uniform Soybean Tests–Southern States. N6001 yielded 8.9% greater than, and had comparable protein content to, the adapted parent Young (p < 0.05) in the Uniform Tests. N6001 also yielded 8.7% more than Young (p < 0.05) in the Diversity Trials. Over 24 environments, N6001 yielded 98% of elite check cultivar NC-Roy. The improved performance of N6001 over its adapted parent, and near parity with NC-Roy, suggests that yield-enhancing alleles were transferred from Suzuyutaka to N6001. The maintenance of seed protein content with increased yield in N6001 suggests that these genetics may help mitigate the typical negative relation between seed protein content and seed yield.