CFCRA Soybean Cluster: Activity 2 – Short season food type soybean breeding

Objectives:

• Develop high yielding conventional soybean cultivars adapted to Maturity Group 000 or 00 areas.
• Validate newly identified maturity loci and determine their performance in various Canadian environments.

Impacts:

• This activity will benefit the Canadian field crop sector by providing new non-GM, high yielding, early maturing soybean cultivars for production in short season regions.
• Early maturity will reduce production risk in the short season regions.
• High yielding cultivars will increase profitability.
• Non-GM soybean will provide opportunities for market premiums.

Scientific Summary:

Background

This research activity aimed to develop a new non-genetically modified (non-GM) high yielding, very early maturing soybean cultivars (Maturity Group (MG) 00 and 000) for production in short season growing regions and validate early maturity gene performance to improve the breeding process.

The research activity integrated three separate breeding programs under one single collaboration. Dr. Elroy Cober at the Ottawa Research & Development Centre, Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada emphasized the development of cultivars for MG 00 growing areas and testing of end-use qualities such as tofu texture. Dr. Tom Warkentin at the Crop Development Centre at the University of Saskatchewan emphasized adaption to MG 000 areas. Dr. Lousie O’Donoughe at CEROM emphasized the development of cultivars for MG 00 and applied molecular biology tools to understand genotype x environment (GxE) aspects of early maturity.

Research Highlights (2018-2023)

Six new soybean varieties were developed and released for the non-GM food grade soybean market, including:

AAC Dale (licensed to SeCan) has grey pubescence and yellow hilum. It is an early MG 00 variety adapted to regions of Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec

OT16-06 (licensed to Agri Magic) has grey pubescence and yellow hilum. It is a late MG 00 variety adapted to regions of Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec

OT18-16 (licensed to CanGro Genetics) has brown pubescence, an imperfect yellow hilum, and moderately higher seed protein and seed size. It is an early MG 0 variety adapted to regions of Ontario and Quebec

OT18-09 (licensed to SeCan) has grey pubescence, yellow hilum, and larger than average seed size. It is an early MG 00 variety adapted to regions of Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec. It was rated semi-tolerant to iron deficiency chlorosis in Manitoba provincial trials

OT18-15 (licensed to SeCan) has brown pubescence and an imperfect yellow hilum. It is an early MG 0 variety adapted to regions of Ontario and Quebec

OT18-01 (licensed to CanGro Genetics) has grey pubescence, yellow hilum, and larger than average seed size. It is a late MG 00 variety adapted to regions of Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec

In addition to the development of six new soybean varieties, a new white mold nursery was established in Harrigton, PI to screen new breeding material for resistance to Sclerotinia sclerotiorum (white mold)

Potential parental lines were tested for resistance to Soybean cyst nematode (Mimee, AAFC St-Jean).  Three of these are potentially novel (not currently commercial) sources of resistance and two of them were moderately resistant. 

Tofu quality work is carried out in the lab of Dr. Mehri Hadinezhad (AAFC Ottawa). Tofu texture testing and hard seed determination was carried out on Screening trial entries and results were reported to the breeder.

University of Saskatchewan (Warkentin):

2 lines were grown in the Saskatchewan provincial trial for non-GMO soybean varieties (2022 SB-CONV). 

12 lines (including 4 checks) were grown in an elite yield trial (2022-SBEYT) at Preston (Saskatoon), Campus Field (Saskatoon), Sutherland, Outlook, and Rosthern in Saskatchewan and Portage and Morden in Manitoba.

72 lines (including 4 checks) were grown in advanced yield trials (2022-SBAYT01, SBAYT02) at Preston (Saskatoon), Campus Field (Saskatoon), Sutherland and Outlook in SK.

576 lines (including 6 checks) were grown in preliminary yield trials (2022-SBYT01-SBYT04) at Campus Field (Saskatoon-irrigated) and Sutherland (Saskatoon) in Saskatchewan.

3834 F3 microplots (progeny rows) were grown in Saskatoon nurseries of which the majority were from CDC (Daba/Warkentin) crosses, and some were from Ottawa (Cober) crosses and CEROM (O’Donoughue) crosses. 

60 F2 populations from CDC crosses, 6 F2 populations from Ottawa crosses, and 5 F6 populations from CEROM crosses were grown at Campus Field (Saskatoon) for single plant selections. 

Pre-breeder seed long plots were grown for one line in 2022.   Breeder seed of this line is being bulked in spring 2023 for potential commercial release.

Pre-breeder micro-plots were grown for one line in 2022.  It is being advanced to pre-breeder long plots in 2023.

73 new crosses were made during the review period.

Arising F1 populations from 2022 crossing blocks were grown in a polyhouse or greenhouse. 

CÉROM (O’Donoughue):

Nine MG-00 lines were grown in Québec’s 2500 CHU conventional provincial trials with four of these also tested in the 2300 CHU test. One line was tested in the 2600 CHU conventional trial.

Twenty-three lines were grown in Elroy Cober’s Elite MG-00 trial (Elora, Harrington, La Pocatière, Morden, Ottawa, Portage and Saint-Mathieu-de-Beloeil).  Eight lines were grown in Elroy Cober’s Elite MG-0 trial (Harrington, Inkerman, Ottawa, Plattsville, St-Césaire and Saint-Mathieu-de-Beloeil).

Advanced Lines:

Thirty-three MG000-MG00 advanced lines evaluated in replicated trials in SMB, La Pocatière and Normandin.

Two row plot evaluation of 222 F7 lines in MAD designs in SMB.

Single row plot evaluations of 568   F7 lines in MAD designs in Saint-Mathieu-de-Beloeil (SMB).

No Single plant selections were done in 2022.

Mass field multiplication of 29 F6 families.

Mass field multiplication of 20 F5 families.

Mass field multiplication of 33 F4 families.

Mass field multiplication of 46 F3 families.

Three new cross targeting early maturity was made in the summer of 2022.

Objective 2 Validate newly identified maturity loci and determine their performance in the various Canadian environments (O’Donoughue):

This research activity aimed to develop new non-genetically modified (non-GM) high yielding, very early maturing soybean cultivars (Maturity Group (MG) 00 and 000) for production in short season growing regions and validate early maturity gene performance to improve the breeding process.

The research activity integrated three separate breeding programs under one single collaboration. Dr. Elroy Cober at the Ottawa Research & Development Centre, Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada emphasized the development of cultivars for MG 00 growing areas and testing of end-use qualities such as tofu texture. Dr. Tom Warkentin at the Crop Development Centre at the University of Saskatchewan emphasized adaptation to MG 000 areas. Dr. Louise O’Donoughue at CEROM emphasized the development of cultivars for MG 00 and applied molecular biology tools to understand genotype x environment (GxE) aspects of early maturity.

Research Highlights (2018-2023)

Six new soybean varieties were developed and released for the non-GM food grade soybean market, including:

AAC Dale (licensed to SeCan) has grey pubescence and yellow hilum. It is an early MG 00 variety adapted to regions of Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec.

OT16-06 (licensed to Agri Magic) has grey pubescence and yellow hilum. It is a late MG 00 variety adapted to regions of Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec.

OT18-16 (licensed to CanGro Genetics) has brown pubescence, an imperfect yellow hilum, and moderately higher seed protein and seed size. It is an early MG 0 variety adapted to regions of Ontario & Quebec.

OT18-09 (licensed to SeCan) has grey pubescence, yellow hilum, and larger than average seed size. It is an early MG 00 variety adapted to regions of Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec. It was rated semi-tolerant to iron deficiency chlorosis in Manitoba provincial trials.

OT18-15 (licensed to SeCan) has brown pubescence and an imperfect yellow hilum. It is an early MG 0 variety adapted to regions of Ontario and Quebec.

OT18-01 (licensed to CanGro Genetics) has grey pubescence, yellow hilum, and larger than average seed size. It is a late MG 00 variety adapted to regions of Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec.

In addition to the development of six new soybean varieties, a new white mold nursery was established in Harrington, PE to screen new breeding material for resistance to Sclerotinia sclerotiorum (white mold).

External Funding Partners:

This activity was funded in part by the Government of Canada under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership’s AgriScience Program, with industry support from the Canadian Field Crop Research Alliance (CFCRA) whose members include: Atlantic Grains Council; Producteurs de gains du Quebec; Grain Farmers of Ontario; Manitoba Corn Growers Association; Manitoba Pulse & Soybean Growers; Saskatchewan Pulse Growers; Prairie Oat Growers Association; SeCan; and FP Genetics.

Project Related Publications:

Cober, E.R., Daba, K.A., Warkentin, T.D., Tomasiewicz, D.J., Mooleki, P.S., Karppinen, E.M., Frey, J., Mohr, R.A., Glenn, A.J., Shaw, L., Chalmers, S., Hou, A., O’Donoughue, L.S., Samanfar, B., and Hadinezhad, M. 2023. Soybean seed protein content is lower but protein quality is higher in Western Canada compared with Eastern Canada. Canadian Journal of Plant Science. 103(4): 411-421.