Length Polymorphisms of Simple Sequence Repeat DNA in Soybean

The objective of this work was to ascertain the presence and degree of simple sequence repeat (SSR) DNA length polymorphism in the soybean Glycine max (L.) Merr.]. A search of GenBank revealed no (CA)n or (GT)n SSRs with n greater than 8 in soybean. In contrast, 5 (AT)n and 1 (ATT)n SSRs with n ranging from 14 to 27 were detected. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) primers to regions flanking the six SSR loci were used in PCR amplification of DNA from 43 homozygous soybean genotypes. At three loci, amplification produced one PCR product per genotype and revealed 6, 7 and 8 product length variants (alleles) at the three loci, respectively. F1 hybrids between parents carrying different alleles produced two PCR products identical to the two parents. Codominant segregation of alleles among F2 progeny was demonstrated at each locus. A soybean DNA library was screened for the presence of (CA/GT)n SSRs. Sequencing of positive clones revealed that the longest such SSR was (CA)9. Thus, (CA)n SSRs with n of 15 or more are apparently much less common in soybean than in the human genome. In contrast to humans, (CA)n SSRs will probably not provide an abundant source of genetic markers in soybean. However, the apparent abundance of long (AT)n sequences should allow this SSR to serve as a source of highly polymorphic genetic markers in soybean.