Iron is an important plant micronutrient and lack of iron in the soil can cause significant problems in crops such as soybean. Soybean grown in low-iron soils, especially in calcareous soils, exhibit iron deficiency chlorosis (IDC) resulting in poor growth and significant yield losses. Such iron limiting soil environments affect more than 1 million acres of soybean production in Nebraska, and several million acres in important soybean production areas in the north central U.S.

The goal of this project is to improve the physiological and genetic understanding of the IDC tolerance response in soybean. To do so, they are proposing to combine newly developed breeding material with contrasting...