Identification of SNP (Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms) markers in genomic regions associated with the regulation of chlorophyll degradation in soybean seeds

• Grant number: 22/11417-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: October 01, 2022
• End date: April 30, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Genetics - Plant Genetics
• Agreement: Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO)
• Principal Investigator: Edvaldo Aparecido Amaral da Silva
• Grantee: Rômulo Pedro Macêdo Lima
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Agronômicas (FCA). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 17/50211-9 - Genetic and molecular basis of chlorophyll in seeds: a step forward to improve soybean adaptability to climate change, AP.TEM

Abstract

Soybean breeding programs have as main objectives to select superior genotypes by associating traits of agronomic interest, such as seed and oil quality. It is known that the "green seed problem" has brought serious damage to soybean agricultural areas in the world, particularly due to ongoing climate change. The elimination of this problem becomes increasingly necessary because soy is a major agricultural crop for food products, feed and biofuels both in Brazil and in the world, and understanding the molecular basis to reduce chlorophyll retention in mature seeds constitutes a fundamental step. In this way, the identification of the main regulators of chlorophyll degradation in soybean seeds through the identification of molecular markers to be used in the assisted breeding strategy and associated with the characteristic of the greening anomaly, can generate promising data for greater quality of soybean seeds. In recent years, the Unesp/FCA Seed Laboratory (Botucatu campus) in partnership with Wageningen University and Research and Embrapa-Soja, have accumulated fundamental and applied knowledge about chlorophyll retention in soybean seeds, based on data physiological parameters for evaluating the greening anomaly in soybean cultivars and lines, as well as genetic parameters associated with this trait. Thus, it is important to deepen studies with contrasting parents and their recombinant lineages to understand which genomic regions could be involved in chlorophyll degradation. In the present work, a GBS-GWAS approach (genotyping by sequencing coupled with genome-wide association studies) will be used in 156 soybean genotypes (two contrasting parents and 154 recombinant inbred lines - RILs), using previous data on the physiological quality of green seeds and DNA sequencing of this segregating population. In this way, SNP markers will be identified in genomic regions associated with the regulation of chlorophyll degradation in soybean seeds, using GWAS analysis to validate these SNP markers. The positioning of each SNP marker to be found in the soybean genome will be able to identify candidate genes associated with the regulation of chlorophyll degradation in seeds for effective use in marker-assisted selection and in obtaining transgenic plants more tolerant to chlorophyll retention. (AU)