Evaluation of genetic diversity in soybean (Glycine max) lines using seed protein electrophoresis

The genetic variation of seed protein was assayed by SDS-PAGE for ninety-two accessions of soybean (Glycine max). The germplasm represented five different origins/sources (Pakistan, USA, AVRDC, North Korea and Japan). To our knowledge, no studies have yet been made in Pakistan on the diversity of soybean germplasm based on protein electrophoresis. On the basis of SDS-PAGE, 26 reproducible bands were used for analysis and genetic diversity was estimated based on the number of different protein peptides. Ten major bands were recorded out of total 26 bands detected, while 50% of total were polymorphic. Dendrogram constructed using Ward’s method divided the accessions in two main groups consisting of four clusters. The results of cluster analysis indicated that genetic diversity between Pakistani and US or AVRDC accessions is much larger that the genetic diversity between Pakistani and North Korean or Japanese accessions. Although cluster analysis completely separated most of the Pakistani accessions from USA and AVRDC accessions, but could not distinguish between the accessions from Japan and North Korea. As the accessions from various sources differed considerably, it was difficult to establish any relationship between origin and clustering pattern.