XVI International Botanical Congess

Analysis of molecular linkage groups within the soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.) genome reveals many homoeologous regions reflecting the ancient polyploidy of the soybean. The fragmented arrangement of the duplicated regions suggests that extensive rearrangements as well as additional duplications have occured since the polyploidization event. Comparison of the genome organization of polyploids with that of related diploids will assist in the understanding of the evolutionary history of the polyploid genome. We have begun detailed comparisons of homoeologous regions from the soybean genome with the inferred homologous linkage group from the related diploid Phaseolus vulgaris. Molecular comparisons can be extended to other more studied species, such as Arabidopsis thaliana, to gain a better understanding of the process of genome evolution. By identifying differences and similarities between the soybean genome and those of other species it should be possible to study polyploid genome evolution and mechanisms of diploidization which contributed to the current soybean genome organization and structure.