A research team has uncovered genetic clues to flowering time, salt stress responses, and seed characteristics in soybean landraces from Zhejiang Province, China. By combining genome sequencing with trait measurements, the researchers identified 81 association signals across 11 agronomic traits and highlighted candidate genes that could guide future crop improvement. Their analysis also showed that Zhejiang soybeans retain substantial genetic diversity, making these traditional varieties a valuable resource for developing cultivars adapted to regional growing conditions and the demands of vegetable soybean production.
Soybean is a major source of edible oil, plant protein, and animal feed, while vegetable soybean is harvested before full maturity for direct consumption. Previous genetic studies have mapped thousands of regions associated with soybean traits, providing tools for improving productivity and quality. However, much of this work has focused on improved cultivars or broad collections, leaving locally adapted landraces less thoroughly characterized. Zhejiang has a long history of soybean cultivation and rich resources for high-protein and vegetable soybeans, but the genetic basis of their distinctive characteristics remains incompletely understood. Identifying useful variation in these resources could help breeders retain regional adaptation while improving commercially important traits.
A study (DOI: 10.48130/seedbio-0026-0018) published in Seed Biology on 27 August 2026 by Na Liu's team, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, identifies extensive regional genetic diversity and candidate genes associated with flowering time, growth under salt stress, and seed characteristics.
The researchers sequenced the genomes of 295 Zhejiang soybean accessions and combined these data with publicly available sequences from 678 accessions representing four other Chinese regions. They evaluated 28 traits during the 2022 and 2023 growing seasons, recording characteristics such as pod appearance, cotyledon color, flowering time, and plant dimensions. Separate seedling experiments compared growth under salt treatment with growth under control conditions. After quality filtering, more than 4.54 million single-nucleotide polymorphisms—differences at individual DNA positions—were retained for genome-wide association analysis of the Zhejiang panel. Statistical models accounted for population structure and genetic relatedness, while analyses of linked variants and public gene expression data helped prioritize candidate genes. Population analyses divided the full 973-accession collection into five groups broadly corresponding to geographic origin. Zhejiang accessions showed greater nucleotide diversity than the four comparison populations and the fastest decay of linkage disequilibrium, indicating a rich resource for genetic mapping and breeding. Most measured traits also showed strong consistency between years. Association mapping identified 81 signals encompassing 422 candidate genes. For cotyledon color, the analysis recovered the established genes D1 and D2 , supporting the approach’s reliability. A deletion in D1 and a promoter variant in D2 were associated with green cotyledons, particularly when both variants occurred together. For flowering time, a chromosome 12 signal highlighted GmATPAF1 , which encodes an ATP synthase assembly factor. Accessions carrying an amino-acid-changing variant flowered earlier than those carrying the reference allele. On chromosome 15, two linked variants in GmLRR1 , encoding a leucine-rich repeat protein, were associated with differences in relative plant height under salt stress. Another candidate, GmHSP90 on chromosome 8, was associated with seed coat bloom, the coating that produces a duller seed surface. These relationships identify promising targets for follow-up experiments, although they do not establish that the candidate genes directly cause the observed traits.
Together, the findings connect Zhejiang's soybean diversity with specific genomic regions relevant to crop development, stress responses, and seed appearance. The resulting genomic and phenotypic resource provides a foundation for conserving useful landraces and designing molecular markers for breeding. Functional validation and testing across additional environments will be needed to establish the candidates’ roles and practical value, helping translate regional genetic resources into improved soybean varieties.
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References
DOI
Original Source URL
https://doi.org/10.48130/seedbio-0026-0018
Funding information
This work was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (2024YFF1000502), the Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (LR25C150001), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (32522092), the Zhejiang Province Crop Germplasm Resources Precision Identification and Evaluation Project (2022JZJD003), and the Project of the State Key Laboratory for Quality and Safety of Agro-products.
About Seed Biology
Seed Biology (e-ISSN 2834-5495) is published by Maximum Academic Press in partnership with Yazhou Bay Seed Laboratory. Seed Biology is an open access, online-only journal focusing on research related to all aspects of the biology of seeds, including but not limited to: evolution of seeds; developmental processes including sporogenesis and gametogenesis, pollination and fertilization; apomixis and artificial seed technologies; regulation and manipulation of seed yield; nutrition and health-related quality of the endosperm, cotyledons, and the seed coat; seed dormancy and germination; seed interactions with the biotic and abiotic environment; and roles of seeds in fruit development. Seed Biology publishes a wide range of research approaches, such as omics, genetics, biotechnology, genome editing, cellular and molecular biology, physiology, and environmental biology. Seed Biology publishes high-quality original research, reviews, perspectives, and opinions in open access mode, promoting fast submission, review, and dissemination freely to the global research community.
Seed Biology
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Large-scale genomic analysis of 973 soybean accessions reveals the genetic architecture of agronomic traits in Zhejiang soybean landraces from China
27-Aug-2026
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.