Research HighlightsBreeding Program Advances Soybeans with SCN Resistance in Early Maturity Groups
Highlights:
- The University of Minnesota Soybean Breeding and Genetics Program continues to advance soybean germplasm for farmers in northern U.S. locations.
- Through Soy Checkoff backing, the team is developing soybeans in early maturity groups with new sources of SCN resistance and other desirable traits including improved disease and pest resistance and high oleic acid.
By Carol Brown
The University of Minnesota’s Soybean Breeding and Genetics Program has been dedicated to improving soybean quality for farmers in northern climates of the United States for 80 years. It’s important to develop soybean varieties in early maturity groups with qualities that Minnesota farmers desire such as high oleic acid, disease and pest resistance including resistance to soybean cyst nematode.
The program receives financial support from the Minnesota Soybean Research & Promotion Council (MSR&PC) as well as other funding sources. Aaron Lorenz, soybean breeding and genetics professor, leads the program and is also involved with projects funded through the Soy Checkoff from the North Central Soybean Research Program. One of the program’s focus areas is advancing resistance to SCN in soybean varieties adapted to Minnesota climates.
“Over the recent years, our breeding program has created some early maturing Peking varieties that have been publicly released and licensed to companies as breeding stock,” Lorenz comments. “Lately we’ve been working on sources of SCN resistance beyond PI 88788, in particular PI 567516C, studied by my colleague, plant pathology professor Senyu Chen. This variety has a novel SCN resistance gene on a different chromosome to provide a broader spectrum of resistance.”
The team is also working with other sources of SCN resistance, such as PI 90763 and PI 437654, which are combinations of at least four genes, making the breeding process a little more complicated. The regional trials they conducted last year with these sources of resistance did fairly well, Lorenz says, as they had resistance to HG 1.2.5.7, a virulent SCN population found in Minnesota that overcomes both PI 88788 and Peking, which could be an increasing issue. An HG test indicates the SCN female index percentage as well as the type of SCN population in a field, which can inform a farmer of how severe the SCN pressure is in their fields and what type of genetic resistance they need.
“We have found the PI 437654 breeding line has resistance to a broader field population,” he says. “This was made through years and years of parent building — by crossing new sources of resistance from other places such as Nebraska and Missouri to develop germplasm for early maturing varieties.”
Lorenz and his team have been encouraged by their results and are breeding this line heavily to have varieties with early maturity of 00 or 0, so it can be grown in northern Minnesota.
Much of the soybean breeding work includes “pre-breeding,” or developing germplasm sources that are appropriate for the team’s needs. It takes multiple generations and cycles of soybean breeding to create strong parents for use in Lorenz’s program that could result in commercially relevant varieties, which is where his team is with PIs 90763 and 437654.
In addition to developing early maturing soybeans with SCN resistance, the University Breeding and Genetics Program is developing germplasm with disease and pest resistance as well as high oleic acid. Previously, the program conducted annual commercial variety trials for private companies, but Lorenz says these are paused for the coming growing season, mainly due to funding reductions as well as reduced interest by the commercial companies. For this year, Lorenz can devote his program’s focus to the breeding program and pursuing new soybean varieties that can resist diseases and pests including soybean cyst nematodes.
Additional Resources
Piloting Diverse Breeding Program to Tackle Specific Regional Needs – SRIN article
The SOYGEN Project: Nearly a Decade of Advancing Soybean Genetic Gain – SRIN article
Progress of a Genomic Selection ‘Pipeline’ – SRIN article
Meet the researcher: Aaron Lorenz University profile
The Soybean Research & Information Network (SRIN) is funded by the Soy Checkoff and the North Central Soybean Research Program. For more information about soybean research, visit the National Soybean Checkoff Research Database: https://www.soybeanresearchdata.com/Project.aspx?id=55929 and: https://www.soybeanresearchdata.com/Project.aspx?id=55930
Published: Jun 29, 2026
