Relationship of Resistance to Sudden Death Syndrome with Yield and other Important Agronomic Traits in a Recombinant Inbred Soybean Population

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate a recombinant inbred line population derived from a cross between a recombinant inbred line (RIL) resistant to sudden death syndrome (SDS). ‘LS90-1920’ with a susceptible line, ‘Spencer’ in order to identify any significant association between yield and important agronomic traits with SDS, estimate heritability of these traits and determine whether there are traits that can be used as predictors for SDS resistance. Correlation coefficients for yield and agronomic traits (maturity, lodging, and plant height) were moderately to highly significant but there was no significant association between these traits and SDS resistance. Genotype by environment interaction was significant for all traits studied except of plant height. Maturity, lodging, plant height and SDS resistance were moderately to highly heritable whereas yield showed very low heritability. Our findings showed that environment plays a very crucial role in selection. It is showed that genotypic selection can speed up but cannot replace phenotypic selection across environments and time. Environment is important for the development and production of crop plants because it optimizes the association between the genotype and the phenotype. Highlights: Created Recombinant Inbred Line; Tested for agronomic traits including yield; Tested for disease resistance; Analyzed results to determine if Recombinant Inbred Line differed from the parental lines; Determined if traits were inherited from parents.