Ewerton Lélys Resende , Adriano Teodoro Bruzi , Bruna Stephani de Paula , Mateus Ribeiro Piza , Danyllo Amaral de Oliveira , Vitório Antônio Pereira de Souza , Taine Teotônio Teixeira da Rocha , Afrânio Gabriel da Silva G Santiago , Carlos Henrique de Souza

1 Syngenta Seeds Ltda., Uberlândia-MG, 38402-128, Brazil
2 Universidade Federal de Lavras, Lavras-MG, 37200-900, Brazil
3 GDM Genetica do Brasil S.A., Cambé-PR, 86183-751, Brazil
Author    Correspondence author
Legume Genomics and Genetics, 2026, Vol. 17, No. 1   
Received: 09 Feb., 2026    Accepted: 28 Feb., 2026    Published: 11 Mar., 2026

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

We aimed to understand and explore the intracultivar variability of soybean lines by conducting both phenotypic and genotypic analyses. During the 2017/2018 crop season, plants from six soybean cultivars (SYN1359S IPRO, P98Y11, BMX6160, 97R73 RR, NS7000 IPRO, and NA5909) were used to establish the genetic treatments. For each of these six cultivars, 47 plants were selected to generate progenies and, along with the controls, were subjected to trials across two subsequent crop seasons, 2018/2019 and 2019/2020. Phenotypic traits such as Grain Yield (YIELD), Full Maturity (FM), Days to Flowering (DF), and Plant Height (PH) were measured. Additionally, 288 samples (progenies and controls) were genotyped using a chip containing 1329 SNPs using the Ion S5™ XL System. Phenotypic data were analyzed using mixed models. The genotypic analysis included measures such as observed and expected heterozygosity, hierarchical clustering (UPGMA), and principal component analysis (PCA). The study reveals the existence of both phenotypic and genotypic intracultivar variation among the assessed cultivars. The degree of variation observed differs, with cultivars P98Y11 and NA5909 exhibiting higher levels of diversity, while NS7000 presents a lower level of variation. Given the found variations selection can be employed for soybean breeding to achieve fast and directed gains, as well as to identify genotypes adaptable to specific environments.

Glycine max L. Merrill.; Plant breeding; Genetic diversity; Genetic stability