Characterizing morphological traits and estimating genetic relationship for intermediate soybean collected from South Korea.

Twenty-two wild, 16 intermediate and 20 cultivated soybean varieties were used to analyse relationships among the species of subgenus Soja, genus Glycine using 11 morphological traits and simple sequence repeat ( SSR) markers. These genotypes using eleven agronomic characteristics were divided into three clusters: cluster I included 20 G. max, cluster II included 12 intermediate, and cluster III included 22 G. soja and four intermediate lines. Genetic relationships among the species of subgenus Soja showed three distinct clusters. Cluster I consisted of 20 G. max cultivars and two intermediate type lines, and cluster II consisted of 13 intermediate type and two G. soja lines; however, cluster III consisted of 20 G. soja and one intermediate type lines. These phenotypic and genetic data suggest that the intermediate type lines could be distinguished between G. max and G. soja lines. However, the intermediate type could not be classified as a new species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]