Identification of novel QTL for leaf traits in soybean

Several leaf traits of soybean ( G lycine max L . M err.), including leaf area ( LA ), leaf shape ( LS ) and specific leaf weight ( SLW ) may be related to soybean yield. The objective of this study was to identify novel quantitative trait loci ( QTL ) for LA , LS and SLW in a recombinant inbred line ( RIL ) population. The phenotype data were collected in 2011 and 2012 for 93 F 7:10 RIL s using a randomized complete block design with 2 replicates each year. Five hundred and sixteen single‐nucleotide polymorphism ( SNP ) markers and the phenotype data were used to detect QTL using single marker analysis ( SMA ) and composite interval mapping ( CIM ). Single markers analysis identified 26 QTL for the three traits, of which 17 were novel and the rests were previously reported QTL . Most of these QTL were also identified by CIM . Most QTL reported in this study were in close proximity (<1 cM) of one or more SNP markers. These publicly available SNP markers with close linkage to LA , LS and SLW should be useful for marker‐assisted breeding for these traits.