Soybean (Glycine max), is an important and valuable field crop and is the world's leading source of vegetable oil and protein meal. Thus, there is a continuing need to develop new stable, high yielding soybean cultivars that are agronomically sound. New soybeans cultivars are desired that exhibit modified phenotypical traits, including modification of growth, temperature requirements, initiation date of floral or reproductive development, increased seed yield, resistance to diseases, nematodes and insects, abiotic stress tolerance, production of better stems and roots, altered fatty acid profiles, improvements in compositional traits, and better agronomic quality. One approach to produce such new soybean cultivars is through traditional breeding techniques wherein the soybean breeder selects and develops soybean plants having traits that result in superior varieties.
There are numerous steps in the development of any novel, desirable plant germplasm. These processes, which lead to the final step of marketing and distribution, can take from six to twelve years from the time the first cross is made. Therefore, development of new cultivars is a time-consuming process that requires precise forward planning and efficient use of resources. Furthermore, due to the number of genes within each chromosome, millions of genetic combinations exist in the breeders' experimental soybean material. Thus, developing a single variety of useful commercial soybean germplasm is highly unpredictable, and requires intensive research and development. The present invention relates to a new and distinctive soybean cultivar, designated TMG4177.