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Title: USE OF PHASEOLUS GERMPLASM IN BREEDING PINK, PINTO, GREAT NORTHERN, AND SMALL RED BEANS FOR THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST AND INTER-MOUNTAIN REGION.

Author
item Miklas, Phillip - Phil

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/1/2000
Publication Date: 6/1/2000
Citation: MIKLAS, P.N. USE OF PHASEOLUS GERMPLASM IN BREEDING PINK, PINTO, GREAT NORTHERN, AND SMALL RED BEANS FOR THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST AND INTER-MOUNTAIN REGION.. MEETING ABSTRACT, Vol 1, p. 13-29. 2000.

Interpretive Summary: The development of dry and snap bean cultivars with improved resistance or tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses, increased yield potential, and improved quality traits is dependent, in part, upon the availability of new enhanced germplasm obtained from wide crosses. This infusion of exotic germplasm provides novel genes or combinations of genes for enhancing particular traits, be it resistance or tolerance to a specific disease or environmental stress, or the indirect improvement of yield resulting from an influx of new genetic diversity. Moreover, exotic germplasm may provide the only genes available for improving a trait. This paper summarizes the past, present, and future use of Phaseolus germplasm in the improvement of pinto, great northern, pink, and red beans which dominate the dry bean acreage in the Pacific Northwest (PNW - Idaho, Oregon, and Washington) and Inter-Mountain region (Colorado, Montana, and Wyoming). The information will be most useful to breeders and geneticists interested in cultivar development and genetic improvement of dry edible bean.

Technical Abstract: In today's dry bean cultivars, most traits obtained from exotic germplasm have thus far been introgressed from landraces. Exceptions to this are blight resistance transferred from tepary bean, moderate tolerance to white mold from scarlet runner bean, and resistance to bruchids from wild P. vulgaris. So few success stories attest to the difficulty of obtaining useful traits from wide crosses involving other Phaseolus spp. and wild P. vulgaris germplasm. Still, work is in progress and more is needed to introgress useful traits from these exotic germplasm resources. The evaluation and use of all available Phaseolus germplasm resources in bean breeding will ensure a supply of novel traits and genetic diversity for developing improved pinto, great northern, pink, and red breeding lines and cultivars for the Pacific Northwest and Inter-Mountain region. To avoid duplication of effort and build upon genetic gains made by individual programs, we will need to continue cultivating a "spirit of cooperation" for sharing of information and germplasm among members of the bean breeding community at the national and international level.