Genotype x environment interaction and its implication in identification of common bean populations with high calcium content

Abstract

ABSTRACT. The common bean is a food with high mineral content. Of the various types of beans cultivated in Brazil, carioca type beans are the most consumed. The aim of this study was to identify promising common bean populations with an emphasis toward the selection of carioca type bean lines with high calcium content. We also aimed to verify whether and how the crop season and the genotype (parental line and hybrid populations) x crop season interaction affect calcium content. A group of 3 lines of good agronomic characteristics were crossed with a group of 4 lines with high calcium content in a 3 x 4 partial diallel design. Great variability was identified among both the parental lines and the hybrid populations derived from the diallel crosses among the parental lines. We found significant interactions between crop season and both parental line and hybrid population. In the diallel analysis, only the general combining ability was significant, explaining 89.4% of the sum of squares. The RP-1, CNF05, and Safira lines exhibited the greatest calcium contents and a positive GCA. RP-1 is a line that presents high calcium content, in addition to having carioca type beans and an upright plant with high yield. To further increase the calcium content of the RP-1 line, we suggest crossing it with the CNF05 and Safira lines. Although there was a hybrid population x crop season interaction, it was possible to identify populations that performed best in terms of calcium content in both crop seasons.

Calcium Biofortification of Crops–Challenges and Projected Benefits

“…The concentration of Ca in wheat grains varied by 40% between the dry-and humid-seasons-grown wheat grains (Gomez-Coronado et al, 2019). The effect of crop season on the Ca content of common beans showed that the mean Ca content in the dry crop season was 2.6 times higher compared with rainy crop-season-grown counterparts (Fernandes et al, 2016).…”

“…Breeding studies demonstrated genotypic variability in common bean varieties in the traits responsible for Ca content. Promising common bean populations with high Ca content have been identified, showing that 80% of the Ca content of common beans is concentrated in the seed coat (Fernandes et al, 2016). A hard-to-cook phenotype in the lpa1 common bean line was associated with redistribution of Ca mainly in the cell walls (Cominelli et al, 2020).…”