Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 Theor Appl Genet (2017) 130:2203–2217 DOI 10.1007/s00122-017-2951-z ORIGINAL ARTICLE Genome‑wide association mapping of canopy wilting in diverse soybean genotypes Avjinder S. Kaler 1  · Jefery D. Ray 2  · William T. Schapaugh 3  · C. Andy King 1  · Larry C. Purcell 1   Received: 11 April 2017 / Accepted: 10 July 2017 / Published online: 20 July 2017 © Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany 2017 group (MG) IV soybean genotypes was grown in four envi- ronments to evaluate canopy wilting. Statistical analysis of phenotype indicated wide variation for the trait, with signiicant efects of genotype (G), environment (E), and G × E interaction. Over 42,000 SNP markers were obtained from the Illumina Ininium SoySNP50K iSelect SNP Bead- chip. After iltration for quality control, 31,260 SNPs with a minor allele frequency (MAF) ≥5% were used for asso- ciation mapping using the Fixed and random model Cir- culating Probability Uniication (FarmCPU) model. There were 61 environment-speciic signiicant SNP-canopy wilt- ing associations, and 21 SNPs that associated with canopy wilting in more than one environment. There were 34 sig- niicant SNPs associated with canopy wilting when aver- aged across environments. Together, these SNPs tagged 23 putative loci associated with canopy wilting. Six of the putative loci were located within previously reported chro- mosomal regions that were associated with canopy wilt- ing through bi-parental mapping. Several signiicant SNPs were located within a gene or very close to genes that had a reported biological connection to transpiration or water transport. Favorable alleles from signiicant SNPs may be an important resource for pyramiding genes to improve drought tolerance and for identifying parental genotypes for use in breeding programs. Introduction Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] is among the most widely grown crops in the world and is valuable because of its high oil and protein concentrations. The United States is the lead- ing soybean-producing country, followed by Brazil, Argen- tina, and China (USDA-FAS 2016). Over the last 60 years, there has been an increasing trend in soybean yield in the Abstract Key message Genome‑wide association analysis iden‑ tiied 61 SNP markers for canopy wilting, which likely tagged 51 diferent loci. Based on the allelic efects of the signiicant SNPs, the slowest and fastest wilting geno‑ types were identiied. Abstract Drought stress is a major global constraint for crop production, and slow canopy wilting is a promis- ing trait for improving drought tolerance. The objective of this study was to identify genetic loci associated with canopy wilting and to conirm those loci with previously reported canopy wilting QTLs. A panel of 373 maturity Communicated by Volker Hahn. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00122-017-2951-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Larry C. Purcell lpurcell@uark.edu Avjinder S. Kaler askaler@uark.edu Jefery D. Ray jef.ray@ars.usda.gov William T. Schapaugh wts@ksu.edu C. Andy King chking@uark.edu 1 Department of Crop, Soil, and Environmental Sciences, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72704, USA 2 Crop Genetics Research Unit, USDA-ARS, 141 Experimental Station Road, Stoneville, MS 38776, USA 3 Department of Agronomy, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA