Genetic and physiological bases for adaptation of soybeans to mega-environments

自1980年以来，加拿大的大豆产量增长了近10倍(SoyCanada，2017)。世界大豆产量也在继续增加，特别是巴西和阿根廷。然而，大豆生产的新市场正在世界各地发展。或许增长最快的市场在乌克兰，预计到2022年，该国的大豆生产面积将从2016年的约300万公顷增加到约1000万公顷。部分由于气候和纬度的相似，目前在乌克兰种植的许多成功的大豆品种都在加拿大的育种项目中进行了开发，包括圭尔夫大学。这为加拿大种子公司创造了极好的机会来建立业务并从加拿大出口种子，以增加自己的业务和加拿大经济的利润和效益。这项研究的目的是在为目标环境，特别是海外环境进行育种时，更好地了解高产和改良农艺性状和种子质量性状的潜在遗传和生理基础。为了实现这一目标，大豆双亲群体上的数量性状座位(QTL)将被用来验证QTL，这些QTL将与旨在确定大豆产量和耐逆性的生理基础的方法相结合。更好地理解这些原则以及开发育种和选择工具以促进更好的产品，将使加拿大种子公司的出口市场大幅增长。

Since 1980 soybean production in Canada has grown almost 10-fold (SoyCanada, 2017). The world soybean production continues to increase as well, especially in Brazil and Argentina. However, new markets for soybean production are developing around the world. Perhaps the fastest growing market is in the Ukraine, which is expected to increase its soybean production area from about 3 million hectares (ha) in 2016 to about 10 million ha by 2022. Partly due to similarities in the climate and latitude, many current successful soybean cultivars grown in the Ukraine have been developed in Canadian breeding program including the University of Guelph's. This has created excellent opportunities for Canadian seed companies to build their business and export seeds from Canada to increase the profits and benefits to their own business as well as to Canadian economy. The aim of the proposed research is to gain a better understanding of underlying genetic and physiological bases for high yield and improved agronomic and seed quality traits when breeding for target environment, especially those that are overseas. To achieve this Genome Wide Association Analysis (GWAS), quantitative trait loci (QTL) on biparental populations designed to validate QTL will be used along methods in concert with methods aimed at determining the physiological basis of yield and stress tolerance in soybean. The improved understanding of these principles and the development of breeding and selection tools to facilitate better products will allow for significant growth of the export markets for seed companies in Canada.