Use of Wild Relatives and Closely Related Species to Adapt Common Bean to Climate Change

Abstract

Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is an important legume crop worldwide. However, abiotic and biotic stress limits bean yields to <600 kg ha−1 in low-income countries. Current low yields result in food insecurity, while demands for increased yields to match the rate of population growth combined with the threat of climate change are significant. Novel and significant advances in genetic improvement using untapped genetic diversity available in crop wild relatives and closely related species must be further explored. A meeting was organized by the Global Crop Diversity Trust to consider strategies for common bean improvement. This review resulted from that meeting and considers our current understanding of the genetic resources available for common bean improvement and the progress that has been achieved thus far through introgression of genetic diversity from wild relatives of common bean, and from closely related species, including: P. acutifolius, P. coccineus, P. costaricensis and P. dumosus. Newly developed genomic tools and their potential applications are presented. A broad outline of research for use of these genetic resources for common bean improvement in a ten-year multi-disciplinary effort is presented

Climatic adaptation and ecological descriptors of wild beans from Mexico

“…coccineus , P. gladiolatus , P. palmeri , and P. pedicellatus ) will face adaptation obstacles under climate change, with a consequent loss of genetic diversity (Hill, Griffiths, & Thomas, 2011). In addition, the data may predict the presence of proper germplasm for breeding based on elevation adaptation (Porch et al., 2013). …”

“…The most widely used strategy consists of the identification of wild and landrace germplasm resistant to drought stress (Cortés, Monserrate, Ramírez‐Villegas, Madriñán, & Blair, 2013; Porch et al., 2013). Some traits in wild P. vulgaris accessions have been associated with resistance to water stress.…”

“…The species P. filiformis is known for its strong adaptation to arid and saline environments (Bayuelo‐Jiménez, Debouck, & Lynch, 2002; Delgado‐Salinas & Gama‐López, 2015; Delgado‐Salinas, Turley, Richman, & Lavin, 1999; López‐Soto et al., 2005; Porch et al., 2013). Other noteworthy accessions in this regard were found, such as P. maculatus from Cuatro Ciénegas, Coahuila, where precipitation is 18.5 mm per month, and P. purpusii from Charcas, San Luis Potosí, with 30.3 mm of precipitation per month.…”

“…All predictive scenarios of climate change include region‐specific changes in precipitation as well as increases in temperature and pest and disease incidence (Porch et al., 2013). Wild relatives of crops represent a primary resource for genetic improvement to ensure food security in the face of accelerated population growth and climate change (Debouck, 2000; Gepts, 2014; Porch et al., 2013). …”

“…Genetic variation patterns frequently coincide with environmental variation patterns (Cortés, Chavarro, Madriñán, This, & Blair, 2012). Current research is challenged with collecting, characterizing, and preserving the genetic diversity of wild Phaseolus species as well as searching for better strategies for using genetic resources in breeding (Andueza‐Noh, Camacho‐Pérez, Martínez‐Castillo, & May‐Pat, 2016; Bellon et al., 2009; Porch et al., 2013; Ramírez‐Villegas, Khoury, Jarvis, Debouck, & Guarino, 2010; Spataro et al., 2011). …”