Soybean isoflavones play diverse roles in human health, including cancers, osteoporosis, heart disease, menopausal symptoms and pabulums. The objective of this study was to identify the quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with the isoflavones daidzein (DC), genistein (GeC), glycitein (GlC) and total isoflavone contents (TIC) in soybean seeds. A population of 184 F_2:10 recombinant inbred lines derived from a ‘Xiaoheidou’ × ‘GR8836’ cross was planted in pot and field conditions to evaluate soybean isoflavones. Twenty-one QTL were detected by composite interval mapping. Several QTL were associated with the traits for DC, GeC, GlC and TIC only. QDGeGlTIC4_1 and QDGlTIC12_1 are reported first in this study and were associated with the DC, GeC, GlC and TIC traits simultaneously. The QTL identified have potential value for marker-assisted selection to develop soybean varieties with desirable isoflavone content.

The chloroplast genome sequence of Nitraria tangutorum, a desert shrub, was sequenced using high-throughput sequencing technology and analysed phylogenetically in the present study. The chloroplast genome is 159,414 bp in length, including a large single copy region of 87,924 bp and small single copy region of 18,318 bp, and a pair of inverted repeat regions of 26,586 bp. The chloroplast genome contains 110 unique genes, including 77 protein-coding genes, four ribosomal RNA genes, and 29 tRNA genes. Most of these genes are present as a single copy and in two or more copies 19 genes occurred. Seventeen genes have one intron, and clpP and ycf3 genes contain two introns. A total of 81 simple sequence repeats (SSRs) were identified, most of them were found to be mononucleotide repeats composed of A/T. In addition to SSRs, 66 repeats were identified, including 41 tandem repeats, 10 palindromic repeats, and 15 forward repeats. The phylogenetic analysis based on 54 protein-coding genes demonstrated a close relationship between N. tangutorum and other plant species in Sapindales. The complete chloroplast genome sequence of N. tangutorum will provide important data for further study of taxonomy and systematics of the genus Nitraria.