Short-Term Local Adaptation of Historical Common Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) Varieties and Implications for In Situ Management of Bean Diversity

Abstract

Recognizing both the stakes of traditional European common bean diversity and the role farmers’ and gardeners’ networks play in maintaining this diversity, the present study examines the role that local adaptation plays for the management of common bean diversity in situ. To the purpose, four historical bean varieties and one modern control were multiplied on two organic farms for three growing seasons. The fifteen resulting populations, the initial ones and two populations of each variety obtained after the three years of multiplication, were then grown in a common garden. Twenty-two Simple Sequence Repeat (SSR) markers and 13 phenotypic traits were assessed. In total, 68.2% of tested markers were polymorphic and a total of 66 different alleles were identified. FST analysis showed that the genetic composition of two varieties multiplied in different environments changed. At the phenotypic level, differences were observed in flowering date and leaf length. Results indicate that three years of multiplication suffice for local adaptation to occur. The spatial dynamics of genetic and phenotypic bean diversity imply that the maintenance of diversity should be considered at the scale of the network, rather than individual farms and gardens. The microevolution of bean populations within networks of gardens and farms emerges as a research perspective.

Agronomic Evaluation of Bread Wheat Varieties from Participatory Breeding: A Combination of Performance and Robustness

“…These results are consistent with the finding that increased stability and resilience are provided by within-field crop genetic diversity, which has been described in the case of mixtures of varieties, landraces, and composite cross populations [23][24][25][26]. The good performance of some of these wheat PPBs observed on farms with more limiting conditions may be also related to the efficiency of the participatory approach to identify and select for plants and varieties adapted to these more irregular and difficult conditions.…”

In-Depth Characterisation of Common Bean Diversity Discloses Its Breeding Potential for Sustainable Agriculture

“…Subsequently, for the most significant clustering values, Q-matrixes were generated after single runs performed using a 100,000 burn-in period and 300,000 MCMC iterations and results plotted with the software DISTRUCT [54]. A threshold of q ≥ 0.8 was used to assign genotypes to different STRUCTURE clusters [55,56]. The association between genotype cluster assignment and the available phaseolin data were then tested by analysis of contingency tables with the likelihood ratio chi-squared (χ 2 ) test.…”

“…Descriptive statistics and Pearson's correlation coefficients among BLUPs for all quantitative traits were calculated using functions implemented in "agricolae" [66] and Past3 [67] and then visualised with the R package "ggplot2" [68]. Samples were grouped according to the most significant genetic structure, using a threshold of q ≥ 0.8 [55]. Phenotypic data analysis was then carried out according to sample assignation to the different genetic structure groups.…”

Multi-Environment Evaluation and Genetic Characterisation of Common Bean Breeding Lines for Organic Farming Systems

“…Genetic diversity itself provides a buffer against environmental stresses caused by a multitude of factors which are generally referred to as "biotic and abiotic stresses" [15]. In a recent study, Klaedtke and colleagues also showed that the genetic diversity present in some historical common bean cultivars was sufficient for short-term local adaptation to occur in two different environmental conditions under organic management [28].Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is one of the most important grain legume species for direct human consumption, being a rich source of proteins, vitamins, minerals and fibre. This crop is also highly valued for the long storage life of its seeds and for its numerous culinary applications [29].…”

“…Genetic diversity itself provides a buffer against environmental stresses caused by a multitude of factors which are generally referred to as "biotic and abiotic stresses" [15]. In a recent study, Klaedtke and colleagues also showed that the genetic diversity present in some historical common bean cultivars was sufficient for short-term local adaptation to occur in two different environmental conditions under organic management [28].…”