Assessment of the Effects of Interactions between Climatic Conditions and Genetic Characteristics on the Agronomic Traits of Soybeans Grown in Six Different Experimental Fields

Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] is a species of legume native to East Asia. The interactions between climatic conditions and genetic characteristics are known to affect the agricultural performance of soybean. Therefore, the present investigation was conducted to identify the main elements affecting the agricultural performances of 11 soybean varieties/lines from China [Harbin ($45^{\circ}12^{\prime}N$), Yanji ($42^{\circ}53^{\prime}N$), Dalian ($39^{\circ}30^{\prime}N$), Qingdao ($36^{\circ}26^{\prime}N$)] and the Republic of Korea [Suwon ($37^{\circ}16^{\prime}N$), and Jeonju ($35^{\circ}49^{\prime}N$)]. The days to flowering (DTF) of soybeans with the e1-nf and e1-as alleles and the E1e2e3e4 genotype, except in 'Keumgangkong', 'Tawonkong', and 'Duyoukong', were relatively short compared to those of soybeans with other alleles. Although DTF of the soybeans was highly correlated with all climatic conditions [negative: precipitation, average temperature (AVT), accumulated temperature; positive: day-length (DL)], days to maturity and 100-seed weight of the soybeans showed no significant correlation with any climatic conditions. The soybeans with a dominant Dt1 allele, except 'Tawonkong', had the longest stem length (STL). Moreover, STL of the soybeans grown in the test fields showed a positive correlation with only DL; however, the results of our chamber test that was conducted to complement the field tests showed that STL of soybean was positively affected by AVT and DL. Although soybean yield (YLD) showed positive correlations with latitude and DL (except L62-667, OT89-5, and OT89-6), the response of YLD to the climatic conditions was cultivar-specific. Our results show that DTF and STL of soybeans grown in six different latitudes are highly affected by DL, and AVT and genetic characteristic also affect DTF and STL.