Most studies assessing the genetic progress in soybean have traditionally focused on retrospectives approaches, where commercial genotypes released over an extended period are tested in a limited number of environments. In this context, multi-environment trials (METs) from a soybean breeding program constitute an interesting approach to complement previous studies. This study aims to quantify the rate of genetic progress in soybean genotypes developed by the private seed company Grupo Don Mario in Argentina and Brazil. Our objective was to estimate breeding effects on yield and yield stability across maturity groups (MGs) and to analyze how these effects have been affected across yield environments. We studied 124 soybean genotypes from MGs IV to VIII in 2015 METs. Genotypes were released from 2005 onwards in Argentina and from 2010 onwards in Brazil. To assess breeding effects, genotype seed yield best linear unbiased predictor (BLUP), yield stability, and the genotype BLUP in low, medium, and high yielding environments were regressed to the year of release. Seed yield genetic progress was evident for all MGs and ranged from 20.5 to 46.1 kg ha yr in Argentina and from 23.2 to 53.6 kg ha yr in Brazil. Moreover, no changes were observed for yield stability during recent years. When dissecting the genetic progress by targeted environment yield, the rate in Argentina was 41.4, 23.6, and 16.6 kg ha yr in the high, medium, and low yielding environment, with relative rates of 0.9%, 0.6% and 0.6% yr, respectively. In Brazil, the rate was 43.0, 40.5, and 17.8 kg ha yr in the high, medium, and low yielding environment, with relative rates of 0.9%, 1.0% and 0.5% yr, respectively. Absolute and relative rates increased from low to high environmental quality. However, the rate varied across MGs and environmental yield. Our study revealed that, while genetic progress was evident for MG IV to VII in Argentina and for MG V to VIII in Brazil, most genotypes did not change their response to improvements in environmental quality during the early 21st century. Moreover, the rate of progress depended on the interaction between MGs and environmental yield. This study complements retrospective estimates of soybean genetic progress by evaluating a broader range of environments and MGs. Future research should focus on exploring the physiological and/or environmental factors behind the different rate of progress across MGs and yield environments.

中文翻译：

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21世纪初农场大豆遗传进展和产量稳定性：阿根廷和巴西商业育种计划案例研究

大多数评估大豆遗传进展的研究传统上都侧重于回顾性方法，即在有限数量的环境中测试长期释放的商业基因型。在这种背景下，大豆育种计划的多环境试验（MET）构成了一种有趣的方法来补充以前的研究。本研究旨在量化阿根廷和巴西私营种子公司 Grupo Don Mario 开发的大豆基因型的遗传进展率。我们的目标是评估育种对不同成熟组 (MG) 的产量和产量稳定性的影响，并分析这些影响在不同产量环境中受到的影响。我们在 2015 年 MET 中研究了从 MG IV 到 VIII 的 124 个大豆基因型。基因型从 2005 年起在阿根廷发布，从 2010 年起在巴西发布。为了评估育种效果，将基因型种子产量最佳线性无偏预测因子 (BLUP)、产量稳定性以及低、中、高产环境中的基因型 BLUP 回归到发布年份。所有 MG 的种子产量遗传进步都很明显，阿根廷的产量为 20.5 至 46.1 公斤/年，巴西的为 23.2 至 53.6 公斤/年。此外，近年来产量稳定性没有发生变化。当按目标环境产量剖析遗传进展时，阿根廷在高产、中产和低产环境中的比率分别为 41.4、23.6 和 16.6 公斤/年，相对比率分别为 0.9%、0.6% 和 0.6% 年。在巴西，高产、中产和低产环境下的产量分别为 43.0、40.5 和 17.8 公斤/年，相对增长率分别为 0.9%、1.0% 和 0.5%。绝对和相对比率从低环境质量到高环境质量增加。然而，该比率因 MG 和环境产量而异。我们的研究表明，虽然阿根廷的 MG IV 至 VII 和巴西的 MG V 至 VIII 的遗传进展很明显，但大多数基因型在 21 世纪初并未改变其对环境质量改善的反应。此外，进展速度取决于 MG 和环境产量之间的相互作用。这项研究通过评估更广泛的环境和 MG，补充了对大豆遗传进展的回顾性估计。未来的研究应侧重于探索 MG 和产量环境不同进展率背后的生理和/或环境因素。