Flooding stress causes a significant reduction in soybean yield. The development of flood-tolerant cultivars is an effective way to minimize yield loss due to flooding. Information on candidate genes for flooding tolerance is useful for developing tolerant lines. The
objective
of this study was to identify potential candidate genes for flooding tolerance in soybean by integrating the results of a quantitative trait locus analysis and RNA sequencing. A total of 19 genes showed good amplification in capillary electrophoresis and were further analyzed through a reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR); two of these genes showed differential expression among tolerant and susceptible lines. The expression of Glyma.12g030900 and Glyma.10g050300 in leaf and root tissues, respectively, was higher in several tolerant lines than in the susceptible lines under flooding stress. The chlorophyll index of the tolerant lines was also consistently higher than that of the susceptible lines over two years, supporting the qRT-PCR results. This study provides useful information on flooding tolerance in soybeans.

A new mung bean cultivar, Vigna radiata (L.) R. Wilczek ‘Samhwang’, was derived from a cross between ‘Samgang’ and ‘KM9901-3B-15-2-4’ obtained in 2006 and developed at the Jeollanamdo Agricultural Research and Extension Services (JARES) in 2014. ‘Samhwang’ has an erect growth habit, lobed leaflets, green hypocotyls, light yellow corolla, and a dull yellow seed surface. Its stem length was 64 cm, 5 cm shorter than that of the control cultivar ‘Owool’. The 1000-seed weight was 53 g, i.e., 4 g heavier than that of ‘Owool’. ‘Samhwang’ exhibited similar field resistance to mung bean mottle virus, cercospora leaf spot, powdery mildew, and lodging when compared with that of the control cultivar. The sprout yield ratio and hard seed rate were the same as those of ‘Owool’. The average seed yield of ‘Samhwang’ was 1.76 ton/ha, which was 14% greater than that of ‘Owool’ (Registration No. 5877).

A mungbean (Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek) cultivar Jinhwang was derived from a cross between Samgang and KM9901-3B-15-2-4 and developed at the Jeollanamdo Agricultural Research and Extension Services (JARES) in 2013. Jinhwang has an erect growth habit, heart leaflets, green hypocotyls, light yellow corolla, and a dull yellow seed surface. The stem length of Jinhwang was 61 cm, which was 5 cm shorter than that of the control cultivar Owool. The 1000-seed weight was 52 g, which was 3 g heavier than that of Owool. Jinhwang has similar field resistance to mungbean mottle virus, cercospora leaf spot, powdery mildew, and lodging to the control cultivar. The hard seed rate of Jinhwang was 6.2%, which was 1.8%p higher than that of Owool. The sprout yield ratio was the same as that of the control cultivar. The average seed yield of Jinhwang was 1.68 ton/ha, which was 5% greater than that of Owool. (Registration No. 5873)

A cowpea cultivar Vigna unguiculata L. Walp ‘Seonhyeon’ is a cross species between V. unguiculata ‘IT145373’ and V. unguiculata ‘IT101362’ developed at the Jeollanamdo Agricultural Research and Extension Services (JARES) in 2017. ‘Seonhyeon’ is an erect plant with an intermediate plant habit, green hypocotyls, light purple-colored corolla, heart-shaped leaflets, black seed surface, and straight, brown mature pods. The anthocyanin content of ‘Seonhyeon’ was 1,632 µg/g, and it contained seven anthocyanins, including cyanidin-3-glucoside and delphinidin-3-glucoside. The stem length of ‘Seonhyeon’ was 54 cm, which was 13 cm longer than that of the control cultivar ‘Okdang’. Its 100-seed weight was 11.8 g, which was 3.6 g lighter than that of the control cultivar. Field resistance of ‘Seonhyeon’ to leaf and systemic diseases was similar to that of the control cultivar, whereas its field resistance to lodging was slightly lower compared to that of the control cultivar. The average yield of ‘Seonhyeon’ was 2.26 ton/ha, which was 15% higher compared to that of control cultivar. Black seed coat of the ‘Seonhyeon’ cultivar is expected to contribute to species specialization as well as to development of various processed products. (Registration number: 7499)

A mungbean cultivar ‘Areum’ (Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek) was derived from a cross between ‘Samgang’ and ‘KM9901-3B-15-2-4’ at the Jeollanamdo Agricultural Research and Extension Services (JARES) in 2013. ‘Areum’ has an erect growth habit, lobed leaflet, green hypocotyls, light yellow corolla, and a dull green seed surface. Its stem length is 61 cm, which is 5 cm shorter than that of the control cultivar ‘Owool’. The 1000-seed weight is 51 g, which is 2 g heavier than that of ‘Owool’. Its field resistance to mungbean mottle virus, cercospora leaf spot, and powdery mildew is similar to that of the control cultivar, whereas its field resistance to lodging is marginally weaker. The hard seed rate of ‘Areum’ is 6.81%, which is 2.49% higher than that of ‘Owool’. The sprout yield ratio is 7.09, which is similar to that of the control cultivar. The average yield of ‘Areum’ is 1.79 ton/ha, which is 12% more than that of ‘Owool’. (Cultivar registration number: 5876).