Identification and Characterization of a White‐flowered Wild Soybean Plant

No white‐flowered accession exists among the more than 1100 Glycine soja (Sieb. and Zucc.) accessions in the USDA Soybean Germplasm Collection, although one‐third of the Glycine max (L.) Merr. accessions are white flowered. One white‐flowered plant was found in G. soja accession PI 424008A growing in Stoneville, MS, in 1998. The objective of this research is to clarify the origin of this white‐flowered plant. Phenotypic traits and DNA markers were used to compare the white‐flowered line with the putative parental line, PI 424008A. The results from all of the data show that the white‐flowered plant is very similar to PI 424008A, indicating that the white‐flowered plant was produced by a mutation in PI 424008A. The white‐flowered line has been added to the USDA Soybean Germplasm Collection and is designated as PI 424008C.