Abstract
Soybean (Glycine max) is one of the most important crops for its high content of protein and oil. However, genetic and genomic analyses of soybean are delayed due to its complex and large genome. The objective of our project is to integrate EST-derived SSR markers to a genetic linkage map of soybean to analyze complex soybean genome and to investigate the synteny between soybean and other legumes. Up to now, 5044 primer pairs, generating 100-300bp amplified fragments including SSR, have been screened. As a result of screening, 445 functional markers were obtained and 444 markers of them were mapped to a genetic linkage map which was constructed based on 94 soybean recombinant inbred line (RIL) plants. Using EST sequence, several linkage groups could be compared with the Lotus japonicus genome in silico. This result indicated that EST-derived SSR markers was powerful tool for comparative genomics between soybean and other legumes.
