PINK FLOWER COLOR ASSOCIATED WITH INCREASED PROTEIN AND SEED SIZE IN SOYBEAN

Most soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] cultivars and plant introduction s have either purple (WI) or white (W1) flowers. Pink (wp) flower colo r results when the homozygous wp alleles are combined with W1. This st udy was conducted to determine the effect of pink flower color on agro nomic traits in soybean. Pink and near-isogenic purple-flowered lines were derived from an F-4 plant. Seven homozygous pink-flowered, three homozygous purple flowered, and two lines segregating for pink and pur ple flower color were evaluated at three locations in Illinois for 2 y r. When pink flowered lines were compared to purple-flowered lines no differences were found for yield, maturity, height, lodging, or seed q uality, while significant (P < 0.05) differences were found for seed w eight, protein, and oil concentration. Pink-flowered lines averaged 22 % higher in seed weight, 4% higher in protein, and 3% lower in oil com pared to the purple-flowered lines. The pink flower trait represents u nique germplasm in soybean that can be used in the development of high yielding cultivars with in creased seed protein.