Genetic diversity in soybean genotypes from north-eastern China and identification of candidate markers associated with maturity rating

Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers were used to estimate the genetic relationships among 101 soybean cultivars developed in north-eastern China. Fifty-three fragments of the 100 RAPD markers and 35 SSR markers tested were polymorphic across the 101 soybean cultivars. Similarity values among these soybean cultivars ranged from 45.2% to 100% for RAPD data, and ranged from 36.1% to 100% for SSR data. The similarity matrices for SSR data and RAPD data were moderately correlated (r = 0.31, P < 0.05). Cluster analyses indicated that the cultivars released from the same seed company were mostly grouped together. A principal component analysis, based on the combined RAPD and SSR data, yielded a good separation of soybean varieties with different maturity ratings [represented by soybean Heat Unit (HU)]. The varieties with HU < 2200 were well separated from those with HU > 2200. Four RAPD markers and eight SSR markers were significantly associated with the maturity ratings of soybean.