Screening soybean germplasm for presence of Cda allele involved in low cadmium accumulation using molecular markers

Soybean is an important source of plant protein used in human diets. Cadmium (Cd) from agricultural soil is a toxic metal for plants, including soybean. Furthermore, cadmium is taken up to seeds and becomes a risk for animals and human by feed and food. A method to avoid this risk is the breeding of soybean cultivars with minimized cadmium accumulation. This work reports on the selection of soybean cultivars with low Cd-accumulation by marker assisted selection (MAS). We investigated the allele diversity of the Cda1 gene, in 22 soybean cultivars, using three DNA markers (SSR-Sack149, Gm-dCAPS-HMA1 and Cda1-KASP). The results showed that 11 genotypes carried the allele for low cadmium accumulation, 8 genotypes had the allele for high cadmium accumulation and three genotypes were heterozygous/heterogenous. All three markers classified the soybean genotypes in the same manner but KASP marker are more efficient in MAS for Cda1. This study offers valuable information to breeders and other researchers involved in soybean breeding.