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*Corresponding author's e-mail: hestat@njau.edu.cn; tjzhao@njau.edu.cn
Total 246 lines from southern China were subjected to treatments under natural conditions for 4 years and artificial aging under high temperature (45°C) and high humidity (95% RH) for 5 days. Seed vigor measured by the germination rate (GR), normal seedling rate(NSR), full seedling length (FSL), seedlingshoot length (SSL) and seedling root length (SRL). The significant decrease was observed in the five traits with high heritability and variation. Correlation coefficients among the five traits were highly significant (r>0.700) and significant correlation of these indicators between two treatments was also found with the highest r values of 0.405 for GR. Only seed protein content had weak significant positive correlation with FSL and SSL. According to the grading standard, there were five categories: high tolerance, tolerance, middle tolerance, sensitivity and high sensitivity. 12 lines with good tolerance level were identified, and will be utilized in future breeding programs to improve seed longevity in soybean.
Artificial aging, Genetic variation, Natural aging, Seed storability, Soybean