Phenotypic, molecular, and metabolic characterization of two experimental collections of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.)

The common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) plays a key role in global food consumption and safety and, in the world agricultural economy sector. It also represents a reference crop for other legumes in advanced genomic studies. Indeed, multi-omics approaches used in common bean can be transferred to other crops and then to applied selection and agriculture. These studies are facilitated by thorough characterizations of diverse genetic resources that can be exploited in forward and reverse genetic studies to unravel the genetic control of relevant agronomic traits. Accordingly, in this study two P. vulgaris collections were characterized using diverse molecular, phenotypic, and metabolic traits: 1. A collection of 159 Sardinian common beans (mainly landraces) was genotyped using a GBS approach to investigate its genomic diversity and structure. A GWAS was also performed to search for candidate genes underlying the differential expression of relevant agronomic traits. The genetic structure of the Sardinian collection was compared to a wider collection of common beans (mainly landraces) coming from America and Europe to gain an insight into the origin and evolution of these materials. 2. A common bean TILLING population was characterized using both conventional and precision phenotyping. Metabolic profiles were also registered at seed level on a group of selected lines. The final aim of the comprehensive characterization was to identify mutants displaying unique characteristics, in respect to the wild type, which could potentially harbor significant mutations in genes responsible for altered phenotypes and/or metabolic profiles. Both collections represent unique genetic resources to be used in functional genomics to identify genes responsible for productive and quality traits or genes responsible for the adaptation to different environments, and/or in future breeding programs to create mutation-derived or new varieties with improved traits by conventional breeding.

The common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) plays a key role in global food consumption and safety and, in the world agricultural economy sector. It also represents a reference crop for other legumes in advanced genomic studies. Indeed, multi-omics approaches used in common bean can be transferred to other crops and then to applied selection and agriculture. These studies are facilitated by comprehensive characterizations of diverse genetic resources that can be exploited in forward and reverse genetic studies. Accordingly, in this study two P. vulgaris collections were characterized: 1. A collection of 159 Sardinian common beans (mainly landraces) was genotyped by a GBS approach to investigate its genomic diversity and structure. This collection was compared to 216 American and European common beans (mainly landraces) to gain an insight into the origin and evolution of these materials. A GWAS was also performed on the Sardinian materials to search for candidate genes underlying the differential expression of relevant agronomic traits. 2. A common bean TILLING population of 1670 M4 lines was characterized using both conventional and precision phenotyping (in open field trial and post-harvest). Primary and secondary metabolite profiles were also registered at seed level on a group of selected lines. Results revealed the relationships of the Sardinian lndraces with the American and European landraces and diverse genomic regions emerged as associated to the investigated traits. Moreover, the comprehensive data collected from the TILLING population allowed to identify mutants potentially harboring significant mutations in genes responsible for altered phenotypes and/or metabolic profiles. Both collections represent unique genetic resources to be used in the identification of genes underlying productive and quality traits or contributing to local adaptation to climate, as well as to create mutation-derived or new varieties by conventional breeding.