Results of testing soybean accessions at the Far East Experiment Station of VIR in 1990-2017

Background. Soybeans accessions from the VIR collection were tested in Primorsky Territory, Russia. These accessions had not been studied earlier in that area.Materials and methods. The testing was carried out at the Far East Experiment Station of VIR and involved 570 soybean accessions of various geographic origin. The work was performed according to VIR’s methodological guidelines.Results. The selected accessions were evaluated for their flowering and ripening schedule, seed yield, various seed characteristics (primary color of seed coat, seed hilum color, etc.), 1000 seed weight, plant height, the lower pod setting height, etc. The maximum seed yield (18.0–21.9 g) was registered for 4 accessions: ‘Primorskaya 1099’(k-9700), ‘Primorskaya 1102’ (k-9707) (Russia, Primorsky Territory); ‘Epps’(k-9308) and ‘Pioneer 3981’(k-9651) (USA). Their growing season lasted 121– 130 days. The earliest accessions ‘1337’ and ‘738-4’ (Sweden) had growing seasons of 81–90 days and low seed yields. The weight of 1000 seeds varied from 71 g to 250 g. Only one accession had 1000 seed weight higher than 300 g. The correlation between seed yield and growing season duration was medium (r = 0.57), and between seed yield and 1000 seed weight it was small (r = 0.13). Stem length varied from 15–30 to 111–130 cm. Accessions with the highest seed yield had stem lengths of 51–90 cm. The lower pod setting height ranged from a minimal level (< 6.1 cm) to 18.1–20.0 cm. Among the 92 accessions with high seed productivity (> 14.0 g) only 5 produced their lower pods at a height above 12 cm. Full-scale characterization of the material was published in Catalogue of the VIR Global Collection, Issue 905, 2019.Conclusion. The accomplished study helped to describe earlier untested accessions, grown under the environmental conditions important for soybean production. The accessions with the best economic characteristics can be used in breeding practice

Phenological assessment of early-maturing soybean accessions (<i>Glycine max</i> (L.) Merr.) under the conditions of Moscow Province

Background. The range of early-maturing cultivars suitable for the Non-Black-Earth Zone of the Russian Federation (RF) is extremely limited. The main method of finding sources of earliness for crop production and breeding is the evaluation of the gene pool under the required conditions.Materials and methods. The objects of the study were 81 soybean accessions from the VIR collection, precharacterized as early-ripening under the conditions of Northwest Russia. The studies were carried out in 2018–2020 as field trials under the conditions of Moscow Province.Results. Soybean accessions were characterized by the duration of the emergence-to-flowering (37–53 days), flowering-to-ripening (50–85 days) and emergence-to-ripening (81–130 days) periods. The extreme ripening dates for the accessions were observed from August 20 to October 5, while the maximum duration from emergence to ripening was from 93 to 139 days. The highest sum of active temperatures above 10°C for a growing season ranged from 1642 to 2189°C. Most of the studied accessions were characterized by a short emergence-to-flowering period. Therefore, the differences among accessions in the duration of the growing season were mainly due to the different lengths of their flowering-to-ripening period.Conclusion. Soybean seeds should ripen no later than the first 10 days of September for a stable harvest under the weather conditions of the Russian Non-Black-Earth Zone. There were 32 accessions from breeding centers of the RF, Belarus, Poland, Germany, Sweden, and the U.S. that met these requirements during the three years of observations. The selected accessions demonstrated a short emergence-to-flowering period of 37–48 days, and the length of their flowering-to-ripening period of 50–66 days, on average for three years. They can be used as sources of earliness in soybean breeding

Impact of weather and climate on seed protein and oil content of soybean in the North Сaucasus

For a targeted search of initial breeding material for the quality of soybean seeds, it is necessary to know the patterns of the dependence of the corresponding seed characters on the weather and climatic conditions in a particular region. Global climatic change, the concretization of which is relevant, has a share in this dependence. Thus, the aim of this work was to identify the relationship between the variability of protein and oil content in soybean seeds with climatic parameters in the North Caucasus as well as trends in this variability over a long time period. The study of 1 442 soybean accessions from VIR collection in the Krasnodar region during 1987–2015 had been carried out and the tendencies of the variability of protein and oil content in seeds in this environment were estimated. The regression analysis in differences with forward stepwise selection of variables has been used to construct models for the dependence of the protein and oil content on generalized agrometeorological indices. During 1987–2015, for the period with temperatures above 10 °C, the sums of active temperatures increased by 218 °C/10 years and precipitation decreased by 20.9 mm/10 years. In the dynamics of protein content, a trend has been revealed as an increase by 2.5 % over 10 years, while there is no reliable trend in oil content. The maximum average mean of oil content and the smallest protein were in the middle-maturing accessions (22.2 and 38.8 %), and a relatively high protein content was detected, on average, in the early- (21.6 and 40.0 %) and late-maturing (20.2 and 39.9 %) varieties. The protein content had been increasing with a growth of the duration of the period with temperatures above 22 °C and decreasing with a raise in precipitation over a period of temperatures above 18 °C. The accumulation of oil in seeds was promoted by an increase of the hydrothermal coefficient over the period with temperatures above 19 °C, and, in late-maturating varieties, prevented by a prolonged autumn period with temperatures below 15 °C. Long-term growth in protein content is due to both climatic change and genetic improvement of varieties

SPECIES DIVERSITY OF THE VIR COLLECTION OF GRAIN LEGUME GENETIC RESOURCES AND ITS USE IN DOMESTIC BREEDING

The world’s genebanks hold 7.5 million germplasm accessions of plant genetic resources (PGR). One of the qualitative characteristics of the PGR collections is the species diversity, in particular, the presence of crop wild relatives (CWR), which makes it possible to widen the use of gene pools in the breeding process. The collection of the Vavilov Institute (VIR) is one of the most diverse holdings in the number of plant species. A survey is provided here of the species diversity in VIR’s grain legume collection, and its use in domestic breeding practice is analyzed. Comparison of this diversity with the state of PGR exploitation in the world makes it possible to assess the prospects of more efficient utilization of gene pool potential, especially for species that are unjustifiably cultivated on a too small scale or even neglected as crops in this country. The VIR collection of grain legumes incorporates 196 species from 9 genera of the family Fabaceae. This number includes cultigens and CWR. The cultivars of 21 species of grain legumes listed in the State Register of Breeding Achievements (2018) are adapted to the soil and climate conditions of this country. However, the species diversity of the collection could be used more efficiently in domestic plant breeding and crop production. This concerns both underutilized crops in Russia (broad beans, lima beans and grass pea) and those whose adaptive potential is adjusted only to certain and limited areas of the Russian Federation (Tepary beans and Vigna spp.). It is also necessary to exploit more efficiently species of the wild flora, both for direct utilization as pastures, green manure or phytoremediation crops and for introgressive breeding and domestication (Vicia benghalensis L., V. narbonensis L., Lathyrus sylvestris L., Lupinus hartwegii Lindl., etc.). Incorporation of crop wild relatives into the breeding process is promising for crop improvement in a number of aspects: for example, to increase resistance to diseases, pests, abiotic stressors, etc

ИСХОДНЫЙ МАТЕРИАЛ ДЛЯ СЕЛЕКЦИИ ОВОЩНЫХ БОБОВЫХ КУЛЬТУР В КОЛЛЕКЦИИ ВИР

In the VIR collection there is a rich initial material, which can contribute to the intensification of breeding of leguminous of vegetable directions of our country, as well as an increase in speciesdiversity of cultures in this group.В коллекции ВИР имеется богатый исходный материал, который может способствовать интенсификации селекции зернобобовых культур овощного направления использования в нашей стране, а также увеличению видового разнообразия культур  этой группы

CLIMATIC FACTORS AFFECTING THE DEVELOPMENT OF EARLY SOYBEAN ACCESSIONS IN THE ENVIRONMENTS OF THE RUSSIAN NORTHWEST

Climate requirements of early soybean forms have been evaluated in the planting-shooting and shooting-flowering interphase periods under the conditions of the Russian Northwest. The mean temperature is the principal factor regulating the duration of these periods. The duration of the period from planting to shooting within the interval from 10°C to 19°C has reduced with the growth of mean temperatures, and at temperatures above 19°C becomes constant (minimum). The duration of the period from shooting to flowering has reduced with the growth of temperatures, and for several accessions has become constant at temperatures above 19°C. Another, though less important factor determining the duration of these periods is rainfall. Absence of rainfall at the planting phase delays germination. Excessive rainfall in the shooting-flowering period delays the beginning of flowering

ROLE OF AGRICULTURAL INSTITUTIONS OF CHINESE-EASTERN RAILWAY IN THE FORMATION OF THE SOYBEAN COLLECTION AT THE VAVILOV INSTITUTE OF PLANT INDUSTRY AND ITS BREEDING IN THE USSR

In 1920s, agricultural research institutions (experimental stations) working at the CER collected many local Manchurian soybean varieties. The experimental stations tested the collected material and raised new cultivars. More than 3000 soybean accessions were submitted to the Vavilov Institute of Plant Industry. The article describes this material and its significance for breeding in the USSR

International collaboration of VIR as an important factor of replenishing the collection of grain legume genetic resources

The percentage of foreign material in the VIR collection of grain legumes varies from 42% (vetch) to 96-97% (cowpea, chickpea). For most crops, this indicator is between 75-86%. It depends either on the agroclimatic needs of the crops reflecting the areas of their cultivation and growth over the world or on their centers of origin as well as on the scale of their production and breeding in different countries. The main way of receiving new crop material from abroad is VIR's international cooperation which was initiated by N. I. Vavilov. Since then, interaction of the Institute with foreign partners has not lost its relevance and traditions. The sources of foreign material are international collecting expeditions, the exchange of scientists, requests for germplasm to international genebanks, national botanical gardens, breeding organizations, specialized research institutions and universities. The most important tool for obtaining foreign material was and still is the exchange of germplasm samples. This article provides an overview of the ways by which foreign material has entered the VIR collection of grain legumes over the last 20 years. During this period, the total of 7552 foreign accessions has been added to the collection, which makes 16% of its overall volume. The main sources of such material are international genebanks and national centers working with plant genetic resources. For the collections containing crop wild relatives (CWR), botanical gardens remain important suppliers of material. The main partner countries that have participated in mutually beneficial partnerships and germplasm exchange with VIR are Syria, China, the USA, Canada, Ukraine, Belarus, France, and Australia. International expeditions have been and remain a fruitful source of local varieties and CWR. Of undoubted interest, along with the modern and local varieties coming from abroad, are wild species of such crops as soybean, chickpea and lentil whose areas of distribution lie beyond the borders of this country. Such species are promising for introgressive breeding. The study of new foreign accessions within VIR's network made it possible to identify sources of economically valuable traits for the main trends of crop breeding

THE INITIAL MATERIAL FOR GRAIN LEGUMES BREEDING IN THE COLLECTION OF VIR

In the VIR collection there is a rich initial material, which can contribute to the intensification of breeding of leguminous of vegetable directions of our country, as well as an increase in speciesdiversity of cultures in this group