The SoyaGen project was a collaborative endeavor involving Canadian
soybean researchers and breeders from academia and the private sector as
well as international collaborators. Its aims were to develop
genomics-derived solutions to real-world challenges faced by breeders.

Based on the needs expressed by the stakeholders, the research efforts
were focused on maximizing realized yield through optimization of
maturity and improved disease resistance. The main deliverables related
to molecular breeding in soybean will be reviewed here. These include:

- SNP datasets capturing the genetic diversity within cultivated soybean
(both within a worldwide collection of > 1,000 soybean accessions and a
subset of 102 short-season accessions (MG0 and earlier) directly
relevant to this group);
- SNP markers for selecting favorable alleles at key maturity genes as
well as loci associated with increased resistance to key pathogens and
pests (/Phytophthora sojae/,/Heterodera glycines/,/Sclerotinia
sclerotiorum/);
- diagnostic tools to facilitate the identification and mapping of
specific pathotypes of/P. sojae/; and
- a genomic prediction approach to identify the most promising
combinations of parents. As a result of this fruitful collaboration,
breeders have gained new tools and approaches to implement molecular,
genomics-informed breeding strategies.

Frontiers | The SoyaGen Project: Putting Genomics to Work for Soybean
Breeders | Plant Science (frontiersin.org)
[www.frontiersin.org]