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Wild soybean [Glycine soja Sieb. et Zucc.]

Explanations

Taxonomy
Glycine soja is belonging to the subgenus Soja in the genus Glycine. The subgenus Soja contains two species and the subgenus Glycine contains seven species (Hymowitz and Singh 1987). 2n=40.
Distribution
China, Far East region of Russia, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan (Hymowitz and Newell, 1980).
Morphological characteristics
G. soja is a slender twiner and grows in fields, along roadsieds and riverbanks (Hymowitz and Newell, 1980).
The plant has trifoliate leaves. Seeds are oval-oblong. Flower color is pink, lilac or purple. G. soja is called "Tsuru-mame" in Japan.
As genetic resources
Soybean is considered to have been domesticated from G. soja Sieb & Zucc. in Northeast China (Hymowitz and Newell, 1980). G. soja is therefore considered to be an important gene source of soybean.
The MAFF genebank had conducted explorations for collecting G.soja germplasm in Japan (Kitamura and Ishimoto 1989, Makamura et al. 1994, Yagasaki et al. 1996)
References
Hymowitz,T.and Newell,C.A. 1980. Taxonomy, speciation, domestication, dissemination, germplasm resources and variation in the genus Glycine. In "Advances in Legume Science" pp. 251-264 (eds. R.J.Summerfield and A.H.Bunting) Kew: Royal Botanic Gardens.
Hymowitz, T and R.J.Singh. 1987. Taxonomy and Speciation. In "Soybeans:Improvement,Production, and Uses" 2nd ed. Agronomy Monograph no.16. pp.23-48.
Kitamura,K. and M.Ishimoto. 1989. Collection of the wild soybean (Glycine soja) around the Chyubu Distrcit in Japan, 1988. Annual Report of Exploration and Introduction of Plant Genetic Resources. Vol.5 : 81-84. NIAR, MAFF. Japan. (in Japanese with English summary)
Nakamura,S., A.Kikuchi and K.Takahashi. 1994. Collection of the wild Soybean (Glycine soja) around the Tohoku Distrcit in Japan, 1) Along the Omono river in Akita prefecture. Annual Report of Exploration and Introduction of Plant Genetic Resources. Vol.10 : 53-58. NIAR, MAFF. Japan. (in Japanese with English summary)
Yagasaki,K., K.Kitamura and N.Yamada. 1996. Collection of the wild soybean (Glycine soja) in Kyoto and Hyogo prefectures. Annual Report of Exploration and Introduction of Plant Genetic Resources. Vol.12 : 27-31. NIAR, MAFF. Japan. (in Japanese with English summary)