Phytophthora sojae is one of the costliest soybean pathogens in the US. Quantitative disease resistance (QDR) is a vital part of Phytophthora disease management. In this study, QDR was measured in 478 and 495 plant introductions (PIs) towards P. sojae isolates OH.121 and C2.S1, respectively, in genome-wide association (GWA) analyses to identify genetic markers linked to QDR loci (QDRL). Populations were generated by sampling PIs from the US, the Republic of Korea, and the full collection of PIs maintained by the USDA. Additionally, a meta-analysis of QDRL reported from bi-parental studies was done to compare past and present findings. Twenty-four significant marker-trait associations were identified from the 478 PIs phenotyped with OH.121, and an additional 24 marker-trait associations were identified from the 495 PIs phenotyped with C2.S1. In total, 48 significant markers were distributed across 16 chromosomes and based on linkage analysis, represent a total of 44 QDRL. The majority of QDRL were identified with only one of the two isolates, and only a region on chromosome 13 was consistently identified. Regions on chromosomes 3, 13, and 17 were identified in previous GWA-analyses and were re-identified in this study. Five QDRL co-localized with P. sojae meta-QDRL identified from QDRL reported in previous biparental mapping studies. The remaining regions represent novel QDRL, in the soybean-P. sojae pathosystem and were primarily identified in germplasm from the Republic of Korea. Overall, the number of loci identified in this study highlights the complexity of QDR to P. sojae. OPEN ACCESS Citation: Rolling W, Lake R, Dorrance AE, McHale LK (2020) Genome-wide association analyses of quantitative disease resistance in diverse sets of soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] plant introductions. PLoS ONE 15(3): e0227710. https:// development, including saturated soils and temperatures around 25˚C [2 -4]. Under these conditions, zoospores of P. sojae chemotactically swim towards soybean roots [5,6]. Successful infection of susceptible plants results in seed rot and damping off at early growth stages, and wilting, stem lesions, and plant death at later growth stages. Genetic resistance is considered the most effective strategy for preventing or reducing the impact of Phytophthora diseases [4,7].Soybean-breeding programs have relied on resistance conferred by single, dominantly inherited Resistance to Phytophthora sojae (Rps)-genes. More than 30 Rps-genes/alleles have been mapped (S1 Table) [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25]. The effectiveness of Rps-mediated resistance is limited as these genes only confer immunity towards specific races of P. sojae. Over time this results in selection within pathogen populations, leading to adaptation [3,4] and limited Rps-gene lifespans of 8-20 years [26]. A recent survey completed in the North Central region of the US demonstrated that none of the deployed Rps-genes confer resistance to all P. sojae isolates, with field populations having complex virule...