Research Progress on Flower Color Genes in Soybean

Flower color is one of the most basic and important biological indicators of soybean, and is also a phenotypic trait with high utilization rate in genetic breeding. It has important biological significance in maintaining genetic diversity of soybean. At present, several gene loci regulating flower color have been found in soybean, such as W₁, W₂, W₃, W₄, W_m and W_p. Meanwhile, gene cloning and functional identification have been completed, the related molecular regulation mechanism has also been preliminarily analyzed. This paper reviewed the current research progress of soybean flower color genes and discussed these application prospects, in order to provide a reference for further analysis of the molecular mechanism of flower color genes and their application in genetic improvement of soybean varieties.