Abstract

Soybean is an essential oilseed crop worldwide, contributing significantly to the food, feed, and pharmaceutical industries. Breeding efforts primarily focus on increasing the oil content while enhancing its composition, which is crucial for flavor, stability, and nutritional value. In this study, a genome-wide association study (GWAS) was performed to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) and candidate genes associated with oil content and fatty acid composition using single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers in a global panel of 146 soybean accessions. The results revealed 26 significant SNPs associated with oil content and the concentration of palmitic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid, and linolenic acid. Of these, two SNPs were localized near Glyma.04g192100 on Chr. 4 and Glyma.05g015400 on Chr. 5 that have been found to be related to fatty acid metabolism in Arabidopsis thaliana. Overall, our findings offer valuable insight into the genetic basis of soybean oil traits, facilitating breeders in improving the oil content and composition.