The project “Using Bean populations derived from P. acutifolius to advance toward generation of new bean varieties and discerning the traits and genetic base associated to heat tolerance” is being carried out by a team consisting of the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), El Zamorano, and Instituto de Investigação Agrária de Moçambique. The project will take place from 2019 to 2020.
Several studies have shown that Phaseolus acutifolius is an important source of tolerance to heat stress that could be used to improve common bean’s adaptability to high temperature. In the first phase of the project, new wild accessions from P. acutifolius were identified as tolerant to high temperature, under greenhouse and field conditions, and were crossed to common bean lines to obtain heat tolerant lines with superior agronomic traits as yield and grain type. This project aims to advance bean families developed in the first phase with two main purposes. One is to continue the breeding process of these families to obtain promising bean lines tolerant to heat stress that could be delivered to partners for further variety release. The second use of genetic resources developed in the first phase of the project is to design a genetic assay suitable for elucidating the genetic base of heat tolerance in one accession of P. acutifolius. Results from both objectives will be shared and promoted with local farmers and breeders from Central America and Africa to highlight the relevance of crop wild relatives in improving coming bean adaptation, and available tools and procedures to characterize heat tolerant interspecific lines at the genetic level and their relevance for breeding programs.
The project will focus on pre-bred materials derived from the following CWR: Advanced Phaseolus acutifolius-derived lines tolerant to heat stress and marketable grain type.
