Inheritance of supernodulation in soybean mutant En6500

Abstract

Nodule formation in legume crops is a multistep process which involves the interactive gene expression of bacteria and host plants. Attempts to widen the genetic variation of symbiotic bacteria and host plants have led to the isolation of several mutants with a diverse capability of nodulation. The most striking variants in hosts are the supernodulating mutants isolated in pea (Pisum sativum L.) (Jacobsen and Feenstra 1984; Duc and Messager 1989), common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) (Park and Buttery 1988), and soybean (Glycine max (L.) Men.) (Carroll et al. 1985a,b; Gremaud and Harper 1989; Akao and Kouchi 1992), all of which are capable of producing several-fold more nodules than their parental lines in the presence of nitrate. These mutants may be useful materials for analyzing the mechanism controlling nodule formation, and are considered to have a high agronomic potential under certain growing conditions.

Key Words:

• inheritance
• nitrate tolerance
• soybean
• supernodulation