Allopatric speciation

Domestication

Genome

Molecular breeding

Ecology

Glycine

Amino acid

Artificial intelligence

Glycine soja

Selection (genetic algorithm)

Population

Biology

Gene

Demography

Ideotype

Computer science

Sympatric speciation

Agronomy

Introgression

Crop

Sociology

Adaptability

Genetics

Science China Life Sciences

Soybean is a leguminous crop that provides oil and protein. Exploring the genomic signatures of soybean evolution is crucial for breeding varieties with improved adaptability to environmental extremes. We analyzed the genome sequences of 2,214 soybeans and proposed a soybean evolutionary route, i.e., the expansion of annual wild soybean (Glycine soja Sieb. & Zucc.) from southern China and its domestication in central China, followed by the expansion and local breeding selection of its landraces (G. max (L.) Merr.). We observed that the genetic introgression in soybean landraces was mostly derived from sympatric rather than allopatric wild populations during the geographic expansion. Soybean expansion and breeding were accompanied by the positive selection of flowering time genes, including GmSPA3c. Our study sheds light on the evolutionary history of soybean and provides valuable genetic resources for its future breeding.

Genome-wide signatures of the geographic expansion and breeding of soybean