The interaction between gene and environment underlying flowering time has been well elucidated in Arabidopsis thaliana , Boechera stricta  and other species. In soybean, the effects of the genes on flowering time and maturity are influenced by environmental conditions . Previous analysis of 39 near-isogenic lines (NILs) with 6 E genes (E1, E2, E3, E4, E5 and E7) indicated that the effects of dominant alleles on flowering were enhanced in the long day and weakened in the short day . The effects of E genes on maturity were also influenced by sowing seasons with different photo-thermal combinations. Each dominant gene had a smaller effect on maturity of soybean planted in summer than in spring . The effects of the QTLs varied with the photoperiodic conditions  and latitudinal environments  and were population-specific, which enabled the plants to adjust to different climatic conditions [33, 34]. However, the responses of flowering time to photoperiod and temperature has not been systematically analysed.