Quantitative trait loci analysis of individual and total isoflavone contents in soybean seeds

Soybean isoflavones play diverse roles in human health, including cancers, osteoporosis, heart disease, menopausal symptoms and pabulums. The objective of this study was to identify the quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with the isoflavones daidzein (DC), genistein (GeC), glycitein (GlC) and total isoflavone contents (TIC) in soybean seeds. A population of 184 F2:10 recombinant inbred lines derived from a 'Xiaoheidou' x 'GR8836' cross was planted in pot and field conditions to evaluate soybean isoflavones. Twenty-one QTL were detected by composite interval mapping. Several QTL were associated with the traits for DC, GeC, GlC and TIC only. QDGeGlTIC4_1 and QDGlTIC12_1 are reported first in this study and were associated with the DC, GeC, GlC and TIC traits simultaneously. The QTL identified have potential value for marker-assisted selection to develop soybean varieties with desirable isoflavone content.