Registration of N6002 Soybean Germplasm with Enhanced Yield Derived from Japanese Cultivars Fukuyutaka and Nakasennari and Elevated Seed Protein Content

Abstract

The release of N6002 (Reg. No. GP-397, PI 674171) soybean [Glycine max L. (Merr.)] is part of an effort to broaden the genetic base of North American soybean breeding programs. N6002 was developed and released by the USDA–ARS and the North Carolina Agricultural Research Service in September 2014 as a conventional maturity group (MG) VI soybean germplasm derived from hybridization of the cultivar Young and USDA germplasm line N6202. N6002 is an F4–derived line that traces 25% of its pedigree to the Japanese cultivars Fukuyutaka and Nakasennari. The remaining pedigree (75%) is derived from ‘Young’. N6002 was tested in three sets of multistate yield trials in the southern United States: recombinant inbred line (RIL) yield trials, the United Soybean Board Southern Diversity Yield Trial Project, and the USDA Uniform Soybean Tests–Southern States. Over 39 environments, N6002 averaged 8.3% higher yield than parents Young or N6202, and 97% of the elite check ‘NC-Roy’. Although seed yield of N6002 was higher than Young, its seed protein content was comparable to that of Young and greater than that of NC-Roy. The superior yield of N6002 compared with Young demonstrates that yield-enhancing alleles were transferred to the Young background from Japanese cultivars. The elevated seed protein content of N6002 compared with NC-Roy and the parity of protein content with Young suggest that these yield-enhancing alleles may aid in mitigating the well-known negative correlation between seed yield and protein content.