Introgression of Resistance to SCN and SDS into Elite Oleic Soybean Lines.

The ability for high oleic soybean lines to be able to resist common diseases is vital for production agriculture. Mutation breeding is used to change unique fatty acid characteristics within specific alleles that would be unachievable through conventional methods. When a mutagenic agent such as ethyl-methanesulfonate (EMS) is applied to seed, the mutations that they create may alter the characteristics from what is normally expressed from the parent seed. EMS was applied to ‘Forrest’, a soybean cultivar that is resistant to two of the most devastating diseases, soybean cyst nematode (SCN) and sudden death syndrome (SDS). A mutant line (M1) was developed and was grown to the M4 generation. Fatty acid profiles for the M3 and M4 generation were determined through gas chromatography. Twenty-five lines with extreme fatty acid vales were identified. These lines may show an alternative pathway for oleic oil production in disease resistant soybeans.