Soybean (Glycine max) is a critically important crop for oil, protein, feed, and food security in China. Expanding soybean cultivation into high-latitude regions represents one of the most direct and effective strategies to increase total production. In the present study, we employed KASP (Kompetitive Allele-Specific PCR) marker technology to systematically analyze 18 variant loci across 14 flowering-time genes in 443 soybean germplasm accessions adapted to high-latitude conditions in Arctic Village (Beiji Cun), Mohe City (>53° N), northeastern China. Our results revealed clear functional-tier-dependent selection gradients: key mutation sites (frequency > 96%) in upstream photoreceptors and core circadian clock genes, such as E2 and GmPRR3a, were nearly fixed in the population, whereas downstream flowering genes such as GmFT5b and GmFT2b remained under dynamic selection. Combinatorial analysis of early-maturity allelic variants identified 178 distinct genotype combinations, including six dominant types (n ≥ 10). Field phenotypic analysis demonstrated that the cumulative number of early-maturity alleles was significantly negatively correlated with flowering time, with specific allele combinations such as FT5aA + FKF1b-hap3T exhibiting particularly strong flower-promoting effects. A set of 80 highly enriched super-early-maturity accessions, including extreme materials such as MHL22002, were identified, providing valuable genetic resources and a theoretical framework for elucidating the flowering regulatory mechanisms of high-latitude soybean and for breeding super-early-maturing varieties.
Li et al. (Mon,) studied this question.