Search

Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is the most important legume crop for direct human consumption in Brazil. Overall patterns of genetic diversity of common bean in the country are not well understood. Hence, this study sought to integrate morphological and agronomic evaluations with prior molecular diversity data from a geo-referenced collection of Brazilian common bean. Our sample included 279 randomly chosen landrace accessions from the main growing regions of beans in Brazil. Eighteen morphological and three agronomic characters (yield and susceptibility to common bacterial blight and rust diseases) were evaluated in field conditions in Brazil or California. Results show that the sample was diverse morphologically but did not include all the morphological variability described in domesticated common bean outside Brazil. Several accessions showed clear morphological differences in spite of having the same name. The integration of the current morphological and agronomic evaluations with a prior 74-marker diversity assessment of the same landraces improved the identification of five subpopulations identified on the basis of microsatellite diversity. These subpopulations could be distinguished by their morphology, the type and frequency of the market classes they included, and the frequency of susceptibility to diseases. This information will facilitate the management and use of P. vulgaris genetic diversity in Brazil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]