Registration of soybean germplasm lines R10‐2436 and R10‐2710 with drought tolerance traits and high yield under moderate water stress

Abstract

AbstractSoybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] lines R10‐2436 (Reg. no. GP‐439, PI 692971) and R10‐2710 (Reg. no. GP‐440, PI 692972) are high‐yielding and drought‐tolerant conventional germplasm released by the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station in February 2017. R10‐2436 and R10‐2710 have a relative maturity of 5.6 and 5.8, respectively. R10‐2436 is an F4–derived line from the cross R01‐52F × R02‐6268F, and R10‐2710 is an F2–derived line from R01‐52F × ‘USDA‐N7002’. In 6 yr of testing, R10‐2436 and R10‐2710 significantly outyielded the maturity group 5 check mean under moderate water‐deficit stress in Stuttgart, AR (2,893, 2,889, and 2,506 kg ha−1, respectively) and were on a par with the checks under full irrigation in Stuttgart (4,644, 4,511, and 4,613 kg ha−1, respectively) and in five additional irrigated Arkansas environments. The water‐deficit treatment consisted of normal irrigation until blooming, after which irrigation was suspended for the rest of the season. In greenhouse pot studies, both releases exhibited sustained nitrogen fixation during a dry‐down cycle. This trait was presumably inherited from their ancestor ‘Jackson’. R10‐2436 also exhibited slow wilting in multiple drought‐stressed environments in Arkansas and North Carolina, likely inherited from PI 416937. Because of their yield potential under drought and irrigation, as well as their good agronomic characteristics, R10‐2436 and R10‐2710 can be easily incorporated in applied breeding programs to transfer drought tolerance into elite high‐yielding cultivars.