Author(s)

Masum Akond¹, Shiming Liu², Stella K. Kantartzi², Khalid Meksem², Nacer Bellaloui³, David A. Lightfoot², My Abdelmajid Kassem^1,4*

¹Plant Genomics and Biotechnology Laboratory, Department of Biological Sciences, Fayetteville State University, Fayetteville, NC, USA.
²Department of Plant, Soil and Agricultural Systems, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL, USA.
³Crop Genetics Research Unit, USDA-ARS, Stoneville, MS, USA.
⁴School of Arts and Sciences, American University of Ras Al Khaimah, Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates.

Sucrose, raffinose, and stachyose are important soluble sugars in soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] seeds. Seed sucrose is a desirable trait for taste and flavor. Raffinose and stachyose are undesirable in diets of monogastric animals, acting as anti-nutritional factors that cause flatulence and abdominal discomfort. Therefore, reducing raffinose and stachyose biosynthesis is considered as a key quality trait goal in soy food and feed industries. The objective of this study was to identify genomic regions containing quantitative trait loci (QTL) controlling sucrose, raffinose, and stachyose in a set of 92 F_5:7 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) derived from a cross between the lines “MD96-5722” and “Spencer” by using 5376 Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) markers from the Illumina Infinium SoySNP6K BeadChip array. Fourteen significant QTL were identified and mapped on eight different linkage groups (LGs) and chromosomes (Chr). Three QTL for seed sucrose content were identified on LGs N (Chr3), K (Chr9), and E (Chr15). Seven QTL were identified for raffinose content on LGs D1a (Chr1), N (Chr3), C2 (Chr6), K (Chr9), B2 (Chr14), and J (Chr16). Four QTL for stachyose content were identified on LG D1a (Chr1), C2 (Chr6), H (Chr12), and B2 (Chr14). Selection for beneficial alleles of these QTLs could facilitate breeding strategies to develop soybean lines with higher concentrations of sucrose and lower levels of raffinose and stachyose.

Soybean, Seed Nutrition, Sucrose, Raffinose, Stachyose, Sugars, MD96-5722, Spencer, QTL, RIL

Akond, M. , Liu, S. , Kantartzi, S. , Meksem, K. , Bellaloui, N. , Lightfoot, D. and Kassem, M. (2015) Quantitative Trait Loci Underlying Seed Sugars Content in “MD96-5722” by “Spencer” Recombinant Inbred Line Population of Soybean. Food and Nutrition Sciences, 6, 964-973. doi: 10.4236/fns.2015.611100.