Molecular Mapping of the Mutant fap4(A24) Allele for Elevated Palmitate Concentration in Soybean

Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] oil with an elevated palmitate concentration is useful for some food and industrial applications. The objective of this study was to map the genetic location of the fap4(A24) allele that controls an increase in palmitate concentration and to identify molecular markers that can be used for marker-assisted selection (MAS) of the allele. A cross was made between the mutant line A24(fap4fap4) and the cultivar Archer(Fap4Fap4), and DNA was collected from 22 F-4 plants with normal palmitate and 22 F-4 plants with elevated palmitate concentration. The DNA samples were analyzed on the soybean single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) chip developed by Monsanto Co. Publicly available simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers were used to fine-map the allele. On the basis of these molecular analyses, the fap4(A24) allele was mapped to chromosome 3 (linkage group N) in an area between SSRs BARCSOYSSR_03_1260 and BARCSOYSSR_03_1313. Seven SSRs and a SNP were identified in the region that perfectly differentiated the plants which were homozygous for the fap4(A24) allele for elevated palmitate or the Fap4 allele for normal palmitate. The public SNP and SSRs should be useful for MAS of the fap4(A24) allele in segregating populations.