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Journal of Integrative Agriculture  2015, Vol. 14 Issue (4): 622-632    DOI: 10.1016/S2095-3119(14)60856-X
Crop Genetics · Breeding · Germplasm Resources Advanced Online Publication | Current Issue | Archive | Adv Search |
Analysis of the independent- and interactive-photo-thermal effects on soybean flowering
 WU Ting-ting, LI Jin-yu, WU Cun-xiang, SUN Shi, MAO Ting-ting, JIANG Bing-jun, HOU Wen-sheng, HAN Tian-fu
Key Laboratory of Soybean Biology (Beijing), Ministry of Agriculture/Institute of Crop Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, P.R.China
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摘要  Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) is a typical short-day and warm season plant, and the interval between emergence and flowering has long been known to be regulated by environmental factors, primarily photoperiod and temperature. While the effects of photoperiod and temperature on soybean flowering have been extensively studied, a dissection of the component photo-thermal effects has not been documented for Chinese germplasm. Our objective of the current study was to evaluate the independent- and interactive-photo-thermal responses of 71 cultivars from 6 ecotypes spanning the soybean production regions in China. These cultivars were subjected in pot experiments to different temperature regimes by planting in spring (low temperature (LT)) and summer (high temperature (HT)), and integrating with short day (SD, 12 h), natural day (ND, variable day-length), and long day (LD, 16 h) treatments over two years. The duration of the vegetative phase from emergence to first bloom (R1) was recorded, and the photo-thermal response was calculated. The outcome of this characterization led to the following conclusions: (1) There were significant differences in photo-thermal response among the different ecotypes. High-latitude ecotypes were less sensitive to the independent- and interactive-photo-thermal effects than low-latitude ecotypes; and (2) there was an interaction between photoperiod and temperature, with the effect of photoperiod on thermal sensitivity being greater under the LD than the SD condition, and with the effect of temperature on photoperiodic sensitivity being greater under the LT than the HT condition. The strengths and limitations of this study are discussed in terms of implications for current knowledge and future research directions. The study provides better understanding of photo-thermal effects on flowering in soybean genotypes from different ecotypes throughout China and of the implications for their adaptation more broadly.

Abstract  Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) is a typical short-day and warm season plant, and the interval between emergence and flowering has long been known to be regulated by environmental factors, primarily photoperiod and temperature. While the effects of photoperiod and temperature on soybean flowering have been extensively studied, a dissection of the component photo-thermal effects has not been documented for Chinese germplasm. Our objective of the current study was to evaluate the independent- and interactive-photo-thermal responses of 71 cultivars from 6 ecotypes spanning the soybean production regions in China. These cultivars were subjected in pot experiments to different temperature regimes by planting in spring (low temperature (LT)) and summer (high temperature (HT)), and integrating with short day (SD, 12 h), natural day (ND, variable day-length), and long day (LD, 16 h) treatments over two years. The duration of the vegetative phase from emergence to first bloom (R1) was recorded, and the photo-thermal response was calculated. The outcome of this characterization led to the following conclusions: (1) There were significant differences in photo-thermal response among the different ecotypes. High-latitude ecotypes were less sensitive to the independent- and interactive-photo-thermal effects than low-latitude ecotypes; and (2) there was an interaction between photoperiod and temperature, with the effect of photoperiod on thermal sensitivity being greater under the LD than the SD condition, and with the effect of temperature on photoperiodic sensitivity being greater under the LT than the HT condition. The strengths and limitations of this study are discussed in terms of implications for current knowledge and future research directions. The study provides better understanding of photo-thermal effects on flowering in soybean genotypes from different ecotypes throughout China and of the implications for their adaptation more broadly.
Keywords:  soybean       flowering       photoperiod       temperature       photo-thermal response  
Received: 17 February 2014   Accepted:
Fund: 

This work was funded by the China Agricultural Research System (CARS-04) and the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences Innovation Project. The authors would like to thank Dr. Qiu Lijuan (Institute of Crop Science, CAAS) and Liu Zhangxiong (CAAS) for providing some soybean germplasms for this study.

Corresponding Authors:  HAN Tian-fu, Tel: +86-10-82105875, Fax: +86-10-82108784,E-mail: tianfuhan@hotmail.com, hantianfu@caas.cn   
About author:  WU Ting-ting, E-mail: wtt1235@126.com; LI Jin-yu, E-mail: jinyuli. 1985@126.com

Cite this article: 

WU Ting-ting, LI Jin-yu, WU Cun-xiang, SUN Shi, MAO Ting-ting, JIANG Bing-jun, HOU Wen-sheng, HAN Tian-fu. 2015. Analysis of the independent- and interactive-photo-thermal effects on soybean flowering. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 14(4): 622-632.

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