Shattering-resistance of an elite soybean variety ‘Heihe 43’ and identification of shattering-resistant genes

Pod dehiscence is a vital reproduction trait for wild soybean, but it is an undesirable trait that causes yield loss in soybean production. It is important in both theory and application to study the occurrence regularity and molecular genetic basis of pod dehiscence. In this study, we used the varieties of Heihe 43 (shattering-resistant) and Heihe 18 (shattering-susceptible) as parents that share close kinships to develop offspring. We performed genetic analysis to the percentage of shattering in the six generations (P1, P2, F1, BCP1F1, BCP2F1 and F2). The heritability of shattering-resistance for Heihe 43 was as high as 0.96 and controlled by two dominate genes that were different from either SHAT1-5 or PDH1. To further identify one candidate genes in Heihe 43, we developed a separating population from RHLs of Heihe 43 × Heihe 18, and narrowed qPD05-1 to a 169.85-Kb region including 19 genes. Our results provide closely molecular marker for identifying the shattering-resistant gene in soybean breeding.