Meta-Analysis of 100-Seed Weight QTLs in Soybean

100-seed weight is a very complicated quantitative trait of yield. The study of gene mapping for yield trait in soybean is very important for application. However, the mapping result of 100-seed weight was dispersed, the public map should be chosen which was suitable for the published results integrated, and to improve yield. In this research, an integrated map of 100-seed weight QTLs in soybean had been established with soymap2 published in 2004 as a reference map. QTLs of 100-seed weight in soybean were collected in recent 20 yr. With the software BioMercator 2.1, QTLs from their own maps were projected to the reference map. From published papers, 65 QTLs of 100-seed weight were collected and 53 QTLs were integrated, including 17 reductive effect QTLs and 36 additive effect QTLs. 12 clusters of QTLs were found in the integrated map. A method of meta-analysis was used to narrow down the confidence interval, and 6 additive QTLs and 6 reductive QTLs and their corresponding markers were obtained respectively. The minimum confidence interval (C.I.) was shrunk to 1.52 cM. These results would lay the foundation for marker-assisted selection and mapping QTL precisely, as well as QTL gene cloning in soybean.