Isoflavone contents in soybean seeds are affected by both genetic and environmental factors. Correlation analysis between these factors and isoflavone contents are considered as valuable inputs when breeding improved soybean cultivars. In this study, the seeds of 49 soybean accessions grown in Korea were grouped as black, yellow, green, yellowish-green, pale yellow, and green with a black spot based on their seed coat colors. The contents of 12 isoflavones were analyzed and the association between isoflavone content and seed coat color was determined. The accessions were also grouped as early, intermediate, and late-maturing based on their days to maturity. Out of the 12 isoflavones, 11 were found in 2 accessions, 9 in 18 accessions, 8 in 11 accessions, 7 in another 11 accessions, and 6 in 7 accessions. The total isoflavone content (TIC) in black, yellow, green, yellowish-green, pale yellow, and green with black spot soybeans was in the ranges 2.110 ~ 5.777, 2.487 ~ 4.733, 2.185 ~ 4.413, 2.681 ~ 4.065, 1.827 ~ 4.085, and 3.376 ~ 4.133 ㎎/g, respectively. The average TIC was highest in green with black spot soybeans (3.616 ㎎/g), and lowest in pale yellow soybeans (2.875 ㎎/g). Besides, the average TIC was lowest in early maturing accessions compared to late- and intermediate-maturing accessions. TIC was strongly correlated to malonylgenistin (r = 0.91) and malonyldaidzin (r = 0.78) contents, and poorly correlated to glycitein (r = 0.04) and malonylglycitin (r = 0.18) contents. Also, days to maturity showed strong correlation with malonylgenistin (r = 0.47) content and TIC (r = 0.38). The principal component analysis outlined accessions with high TIC and diverse isoflavones along the first and second components, respectively. The results of the present study depicted that green soybeans with a black spot could be sources of high TIC. Furthermore, late-maturing accessions with diverse isoflavones in their seeds could be useful in future agricultural systems in Korea.

Improvement of crop yield can be achieved through understanding genetic variation in reproductive characters and its impact on yield components. The present study was performed to evaluate genetic diversity for reproductive growth characters in exotic germplasm resources and to determine the relationships between developmental and growth periods with yield and yield components in soybean cultivar groups. For phenotypic evaluation such as reproductive and agronomic traits, a total of 80 indigenous and exotic soybean cultivars collected from four different geographical regions (China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam) were grown from May to November of 2003 at the Seoul National University Farm, Suwon, Korea (127~circ02 longitude, 37~circ26 latitude). Most of all the characters exhibited wide range of phenotypic variation, of which pod number, seed number, and plant yield showed greater range as compared to other characters. Korean cultivar groups showed greater diversity than the other cultivar groups in seven characters. Correlation analysis showed that days to flowering (DTF) and days to maturity (DTM) had close association with agronomic traits as well as yield and yield components. Both DTF and DTM had positive correlation with the other characters except one hundred seed weight. Stepwise multiple linear regression revealed that seed and pod number were identified as being significant for plant yield. The results in this study indicated wide variation in agronomic traits including DTF and DTM, suggesting the valuable genetic resources in a soybean breeding program.

To identity the effect of sowing dates on flowering and maturity of sesame, some agronomic traits including days to flowering and days to maturity were investigated under five different sowing dates. Plant height, days to flowering, days to maturity, days from flowering to maturity and number of capsules per plant were showed significantly different by years, sowing dates and varieties. Interaction between sowing dates and varieties affected to days to flowering, days to maturity, days from flowering to maturity and number of capsules per plant. Plant height, days to flowering and days to maturity decreased significantly as sowing dates were delayed, but number of capsules and seed weight per plant showed highest at the sowing date of May 10. At the regression analysis of shortness degree of growth period by the response of days to flowering and days to maturity under different sowing dates, sesame varieties with earlier flowering habit were much less affected by day length rather than ones with later flowering habit. R2 and gradient value on the days to maturity regression graph were smaller indicating that maturity was much less sensitivity than flowering to the change of day length and temperature in the move of sowing dates. Therefore, it would be concluded that early maturity sesame varieties have higher potential adaptability to various sesame cropping systems in view of their less sensitivity to day length changes under different sowing dates.