Pod dehiscence (PD), defined as the opening of pods along both the dorsal and ventral sutures, causes the seed to shatter in the field before harvesting and results in loss of seed yields. However, breeding for resistance to PD is difficult due to the complicated genetic behavior and environmental interaction. The objective of the present research was to analyze the genetic behavior of PD for improving the breeding efficiency of resistance to PD in soybean. PD after oven-drying the sampled pod at 40oC for 24 hours was the most reliable to predict the degree of PD tested in the field. Keunolkong, a dehiscent parent, was crossed with non-dehiscent parents, Sinpaldalkong and Iksan10. Using their F1 and F2 seeds, PD was measured after oven drying the pod at 40oC for 24 hours. The gene conferring PD behaved in different manners depending on the genetic populations. In the Keunolkong Sinpaldalkong population, PD seemed to be governed by single major recessive gene and minor genes, while several genes were probably involved in the resistance to pod dehiscence in the Keunolkong Iksan10 population. Heritability for PD estimated in F2 population showed over 90% in the two populations. High heritability of PD indicated that selection for resistance to PD should be effective in a breeding program. In addition, genetic mapping of quantitative locus (QTL) for PD in both populations may reveal that genes conferring PD are population-specific.
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