The Phaseolus vulgaris Yellow Bean Collection: Genetic diversity and characterization for cooking time

Authors: SADOHARA, R - Michigan State University; IZQUIERDO, P - Michigan State University; ALVES, F - Michigan State University; Porch, Timothy - Tim; BEAVER, J - University Of Puerto Rico; URREA, C - University Of Nebraska; CICHY, K - US Department Of Agriculture (USDA)

Submitted to: Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/14/2021
Publication Date: 1/24/2022
Citation: Sadohara, R., Izquierdo, P., Alves, F.C., Porch, T.G., Beaver, J., Urrea, C., Cichy, K.A. 2022. The Phaseolus vulgaris Yellow Bean Collection: Genetic diversity and characterization for cooking time. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution. 69:1627-1648. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10722-021-01323-0.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10722-021-01323-0

Interpretive Summary: Dry beans are rich in diversity for seed sizes, shapes, colors, and patterns. One interesting color class within P. vulgaris, is yellow. Yellow beans occur in many shades and sizes and they make up important market classes in Latin America, the Caribbean, and Africa. Through this research a Yellow Bean Collection (YBC) of 295 yellow beans was assembled with germplasm from the Americas, Europe, and Africa. One of the quality characteristics associated with some market classes of yellow beans is fast cooking times. The Yellow Bean Collection was evaluated for cooking time when grown in two major bean producing regions in the U.S. Cooking times ranged from 15 to 210 min across all the environments and years. Genomic regions associated with cooking time were identified. Considering the diversity and the significantly associated SNPs for cooking time, the YBC will serve as a valuable resource for bean breeding for consumer-focused qualities and for genetic studies to elucidate the mechanism of the fast-cooking trait.

Technical Abstract: Dry beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) are a nutrient-rich food, but their long cooking times hinder their wider utilization. The Yellow Bean Collection (YBC) was assembled with 295 genotypes from sources globally to assess the genetic and phenotypic diversity for end-use quality traits in yellow-colored beans. The panel was genotyped via Genotyping-By-Sequencing (GBS) identifying over 2,000 SNPs. Through population structure analyses with the GBS markers, the YBC was determined to be 69% Andean, 26% Middle American, and 5% admixture. The YBC was grown in two major bean production regions in the US, Michigan and Nebraska over two years. The genotypes exhibited wide diversity in days to flower, seed weight, water uptake, and cooking time. Notably, the cooking times of the YBC ranged from 15-210 min among environments and years. The cooking time varied more widely in NE with many more genotypes exhibiting hardshell than in MI. Fast-cooking genotypes were identified with various yellow colors; 21 genotypes cooked within 20 min in MI, and five genotypes cooked within 30 min at a higher altitude in NE. Water uptake and cooking time were significantly affected by the environment, resulting in a genotype-by-environment interaction. Significant SNPs for cooking time were identified with genome-wide association analysis and a polygalacturonase gene on Pv04 was considered to be a candidate gene. The genotypic and phenotypic variability, fast-cooking genotypes, and the associated SNPs of the YBC will lay the foundation for utilizing yellow beans for breeding and genetic analyses.