Salinity-alkalinity stress is one of the main factors limiting crop growth and production. However, few genetic sources that can be used to improve soybean salinity-alkalinity tolerance are available. The objective of this study was to determine the genetic mechanisms for salinity-alkalinity tolerance in soybean during germination by a genome-wide association study (GWAS) using 281 accessions with 58 112 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Four salinity-alkalinity tolerance (ST) indices namely ST-GR (germination ratio), ST-RFW (root fresh weight), ST-DRW (root dry weight), and ST-RL (root length) were used to assess soybean salinity-alkalinity tolerance. A total of 8, 4, 6, and 4 quantitative trait loci (QTL) accounted for 3.83–8.01% phenotypic variation in ST-GR, ST-RL, ST-RFW, and ST-RDW, respectively. Two common QTL (qST.5.1 and qST.16.1) associated with at least three indices located on chromosome 5 (~38.4 Mb) and chromosome 16 (~29.8 Mb), were determined as important loci for controlling salinity-alkalinity tolerance in soybean. We also predicted candidate genes for the two QTL. The significant SNPs and common QTL as well as the salinity-alkalinity tolerant accessions will improve the efficiency of marker-assisted breeding and candidate gene discovery for soybean salinity-alkalinity tolerance.

盐碱胁迫是限制作物生长和产量的主要因素之一。但是，很少有可用于提高大豆盐度-碱度耐受性的遗传资源。这项研究的目的是通过全基因组关联研究（GWAS）使用281个具有58 112个单核苷酸多态性（SNPs）的登录号，确定大豆发芽过程中耐盐碱性的遗传机制。四个盐碱度容忍度（ST）指标分别是ST-GR（发芽率），ST-RFW（根鲜重），ST-DRW（根干重）和ST-RL（根长）用于评估大豆盐度。 -耐碱性。在ST-GR，ST-RL，ST-RFW和ST-RDW中，共有8、4、6和4个数量性状基因座（QTL）分别占表型变异的3.83–8.01％。两种常见的QTL（至少与位于5号染色体（〜38.4 Mb）和16号染色体（〜29.8 Mb）上的三个索引相关的qST.5.1和qST.16.1）被确定为控制大豆盐碱度耐受性的重要位点。我们还预测了两个QTL的候选基因。大量的SNP和常见的QTL以及耐盐碱性的材料将提高标记辅助育种和大豆耐盐碱性候选基因发现的效率。