Integration of lodging resistance QTL in soybean

Poor lodging resistance could limit increases in soybean yield. Previously, a considerable number of observations of quantitative trait loci (QTL) for lodging resistance have been reported by independent studies. The integration of these QTL into a consensus map will provide further evidence of their usefulness in soybean improvement. To improve informative QTL in soybean, a mapping population from a cross between the Harosoy and Clark cultivars, which inherit major U.S. soybean genetic backgrounds, was used along with previous mapping populations to identify QTL for lodging resistance. Together with 78 QTL for lodging collected from eighteen independent studies, a total of 88 QTL were projected onto the soybean consensus map. A total of 16 significant QTL clusters were observed; fourteen of them were confirmed in either two or more mapping populations or a single population subjected to different environmental conditions. Four QTL (one on chromosome 7 and three on 10) were newly identified in the present study. Further, meta-analysis was used to integrate QTL across different studies, resulting in two significant meta-QTL each on chromosomes 6 and 19. Our results provide deeper knowledge of valuable lodging resistance QTL in soybean, and these QTL could be used to increase lodging resistance.