The Spanish Core Collection of Common Beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.): An Important Source of Variability for Breeding Chemical Composition

Abstract

The Iberian Peninsula is considered as a secondary center of diversity for the common bean, and the Spanish National Plant Genetic Resources Centre’s germplasm bank holds more than 3,000 Spanish accessions of Phaseolus vulgaris L. from which a core collection of 202 landraces has been selected. In order to encourage the use of this abundant resource, this study aimed to characterize genetic diversity, by measuring chemical composition in these core collections (in both the seed coat and cotyledon) using previously developed near infrared spectroscopy models. Crucially, these landraces in question all originated under similar agroclimatic conditions, allowing these field trials to be conducted in a single location without significantly altering the agronomic behavior of individual accessions. Using previously reported data, we also explored the correlations between chemical composition and culinary/sensory traits, as well as possible associations between chemical composition and seed coat color or gene pool (Middle American or Andean). The general Mahalanobis distance was >3 in only 11 of 1,950 estimations, confirming the robustness of the regression models previously developed. Variability was greater in seed coat than in cotyledon compounds and ranges for all compounds were wide: ash 34–94 g/kg, Ca 5–31 g/kg, dietary fiber 554–911 g/kg, Mg 2–4.4 g/kg, uronic acid 95–155 g/kg, protein 192–304 g/kg, starch 339–446 g/kg, amylose 208–291 g/kg, amylopectin 333–482 g/kg, and apparent amylose 241–332 g/kg. Accessions with white seed coats tended to be richer in ash, dietary fiber, uronic acid, and Ca, and accessions of the Middle American gene pool had on average 65% more Ca than the Andean gene pool. Strong genetic correlations were not identified between chemical and culinary/sensory traits. This is particularly positive with regards to plant breeding, as it means that synchronic improvement of nutritional composition and sensory traits is possible. The genetic diversity of chemical composition described in the Spanish core collection of beans therefore represents a promising opportunity to develop cultivars with superior nutritional profiles.

Breeding potential of lablab [Lablab purpureus (L.) Sweet]: a review on characterization and bruchid studies towards improved production and utilization in Africa

“…Phenotyping for important traits in a whole collection of germplasms is an expensive and labor-intensive venture. To minimize this cost, core collection evaluation allows for the description of desired agronomic alleles in germplasms and also the study of existing genetic variation (Rivera et al 2018 ).…”

Common Vetch, Valuable Germplasm for Resilient Agriculture: Genetic Characterization and Spanish Core Collection Development

“…Nevertheless, the main limitation of using these PGR collections is the lack of easily available characterization and evaluation data ( Van Hintum and Brink, 2019 ), essential for analyzing their genetic diversity, identifying potential valuable traits, and selecting local varieties that could be used directly by farmers or incorporated into breeding programs ( Hodgkin et al, 2003 ; Westengen et al, 2018 ). The use of agromorphological descriptors has been the classical approach in PGR characterization and evaluation, but the cost of these trials, both in monetary input and human labor, and the strong environmental influence of these variables limit their use ( Rivera et al, 2018 ). With the development of molecular marker technology, multiallelic and locus-specific codominant markers have been used for many applications in genetic evolution and diversity studies, comparative genomics, cultivar identification, quantitative trait locus (QTL) identification, linkage mapping, and molecular assisted breeding ( Collard and Mackill, 2008 ).…”

Common Bean Yield and Zinc Use Efficiency in Association with Diazotrophic Bacteria Co-Inoculations

“…Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) originated in central Mexico and is now grown globally, especially in Central and South America [1]. Beans have imperative traditional, historical, and nutritional profiles (proteins, amino acid, and minerals, as well as antioxidants and polyphenols) that fulfill the nutritional needs of human diet in many regions of the world as a staple food source [2,3]. The global annual average bean production is about 26.5 million tons [4].…”