Accelerated development of soybean cultivars resistant to soybean cyst nematode and white mould

The proposed research aims to develop a paradigm shift whereas the selection of materials containing resistance genes and QTL for soybean cyst nematode (SCN) and white mould WM) resistance by marker-assisted selection (MAS) applied on the F4 single plants. The University of Guelph uses a nursery in Costa Rica, Central America, to advance breeding materials from F2 to F4 generation. The latter seeds are planted at the Woodstock station, where phenotypic selection occurs on a single individual plant basis for characteristics such as visual agronomic performance, maturity, number of pods per plant and absence of disease and lodging. This project aims to improve selection efficiency for disease resistance traits such as SCN and WM resistance that are difficult to select for phenotypically. It will result in saving on resources spent on testing materials that do not hold promise for the development of disease resistant, high yielding soybean cultivars.

Faculty Supervisor:

Istvan Rajcan

Student:

Partner:

SeCan

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Agriculture

University:

University of Guelph

Program: