GCRF-BBR: Developing a hybrid bean collection to advance climate-ready bean breeding

Lead Research Organisation: National Institute of Agricultural Botany
Department Name: Genetics and Breeding

Abstract

Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is the most important food legume in the human diet, providing protein, micronutrients and complex carbohydrates for >300 million people in the tropics. Climate change scenarios predict that heat/drought and pests and diseases will be major pressures on bean production in the future.

As with most major crops, and because of its domestication history, cultivated common bean lacks genetic diversity. Wild relatives can be used to introduce this diversity for key traits of interest, and in some cases have already been used successfully to provide novel sources of resistance to pests and diseases in beans. This is by no means an easy process, as producing the next generation of plants from these "wide crosses" is difficult, making it hard for breeding programs to make use of the opportunities offered by these wild plants. However, wide crosses occur naturally where farmers grow cultivated beans adjacent to wild populations, as happens across the natural range of beans from Mexico to Argentina.

A number of these naturally occurring cultivated-wild hybrids populations have already been collected from sites throughout Central and South America and are stored in the CIAT genebank. We will characterise plants from twenty hybrid populations for priority breeding traits linked to climate change e.g. pest and disease resistance, and heat and drought tolerance. We will explore their genomes and provide all of this information to the bean breeding and research communities in an accessible way, to help users select the most suitable plants for their purpose. We will hold workshops and demonstrations to make sure that breeders and researchers are aware of this resource and understand how best to make use of it.

By reducing the barriers to inclusion of wild plants into bean breeding programmes, we will help breeders to produce better beans in a shorter time, which will have a positive impact on global food security.

Technical Summary

We will develop a detailed resource for a set of domesticated/wild hybrids of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) and its sister taxa of the same section of the genus, namely P. albescens, P. coccineus, P. costaricensis and P. dumosus which are conserved within CIAT's ex situ collection. We will genotype 200 individuals from across 20 populations collected where farmers grow cultivated beans adjacent to wild populations, revealing their genetic diversity and exploring the distribution of introgressions to search for patterns of selection. We will also phenotype these materials for priority breeding traits linked to climate-change predictions (resistance to diseases such as anthracnose, web blight and white mold; stomatal count and root angle for heat/drought) and characterise these materials for morpho-agronomic traits of interest and breeding traits such as crossability and adaptability.

All data will be made available via CIAT's Germinate instance currently under development for the Genetic Resources Program's web portal. We will also hold workshops to demonstrate the materials in the field and the data and software available.

Planned Impact

Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is the most important food legume in the human diet, providing protein, micronutrients and complex carbohydrates for >300 million people in the tropics. Breeding priorities linked to climate change are focused on heat and drought tolerance, and resistance to pest and disease pressures. Breeding climate-ready bean varieties would help increase yield and improve the welfare of communities dependent on this essential crop.

The direct beneficiaries from this project will be bean (pre)breeders and researchers, as they will have access to a detailed germplasm collection of naturally occurring cultivated/wild hybrids including sister taxa. This collection will be characterised to provide important information for breeders and researchers including detailed characterisation data focused on relevant traits such as morphology, crossability, environmental adaptation, stomatal count, root traits and resistance to a selection of important fungal diseases. These data will help breeders to determine which materials to include into their programmes. Researchers and breeders will also have access to genotypic information for these materials which will promote exploration of novel alleles in regions of interest and development of new markers. Breeders will be able to take advantage of improved materials for their breeding programmes, and improved varieties will benefit farmers and consumers through a more predictable supply.

Indirect beneficiaries include researchers in other crops, as this approach may serve as an exemplar for other species and their wild relatives. This data will also benefit researchers interested in exploring introgression patterns and mechanisms of speciation.

In the long term, common bean-growing regions will benefit as they face fewer losses associated with pests/diseases and heat/drought, in particular in Latin America and Africa. Increased yield of beans will improve food security and public health in the face of climate change. Reduced dependency on pesticides will also provide environmental benefits.

This programme will generate new opportunities for collaborative work between NIAB and CIAT. The proposed work will directly impact the local UK community with the generation of new jobs in the fields of pathology and computational biology. This collaboration will contribute to reinforce the UK's leadership in bioinformatics and genomics, translating this expertise into the breeding of an important pulse crop and having a positive impact on the global economy.

Publications

10 25 50
 
Description The team has gained greater experience and understanding with how to grow these hybrid accessions under mesh house conditions at CIAT's experimental station, and has explored different methods to clonally propagate these plants. This knowledge is vital to ensure the safe regeneration of these and similar accessions to secure these materials in the genebank for future generations.

Seeds from five hybrid complexes have been received at NIAB and are growing well under NIAB's glasshouse conditions. The first batch of disease screening has been performed for hybrids, parental accessions and resistant/susceptible controls for white mold (Sclerotinia), web blight and root rot (Rhizoctonia), and anthracnose (Colletotrichum). Preliminary results show variability in responses between hybrids. These materials have also undergone root imaging, stomatal counts and test crosses to breeding line SER16.
Exploitation Route Other germplasm collections will be able to access these materials and learn from CIAT's approaches to successfully generate seed from these hybrid plants
Sectors Agriculture

Food and Drink

 
Title Genotyped interspecific hybrid and parental material 
Description Dartseq genotypic data for 134 hybrids, putative parent and derived lines 
Type Of Material Biological samples 
Year Produced 2023 
Provided To Others? No  
Impact Genotypic dataset for confirming heritage and investigating introgressions 
 
Title Pathoen screening methods in UK conditions 
Description Pathogen screens have been devised at NIAB to enable high throughput assessment of resistance in the hybrid material received from project partners. The techniques had to reproducible and ensure appropriate reactions on known controls, while being carried out under containment conditions. The techniques used to date have been successful, providing new data on these genetic resources 
Type Of Material Technology assay or reagent 
Year Produced 2020 
Provided To Others? No  
Impact Idenification of sources of resistance within the genotypes received from Colombia. Resistance in hybrids with wild relatives may prove easier to introgress into commercial material which is the next step of the project 
 
Description CIAT, bean program and genebank 
Organisation CGIAR
Department International Center for Tropical Agriculture
Country Colombia 
Sector Charity/Non Profit 
PI Contribution NIAB are contributing activities in bioinformatics, bean pathology and phenotyping
Collaborator Contribution CIAT are contributing expertise in bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) conservation, research and breeding along with seed multiplication and phenotyping activities
Impact Knowledge sharing with regard to hybrid bean materials
Start Year 2018
 
Description Article in technical magazine 
Form Of Engagement Activity A magazine, newsletter or online publication
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact to highlight the project work during International year of Plant health, and the effects of climate change of plant diseases
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
 
Description CIAT visit 2018 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact We met with CIAT's genebank staff, trials staff and breeders to promote awareness of the resources being developed and ensure user engagement through a series of small meetings
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
 
Description Demonstration at a NIAB Open day 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact Production of a poster board outlining NIAB's international activities with Phaseolus bean, including this project, stating aims, objectives and methods
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
 
Description EBI visit 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact We hosted a visit from EMBL-EBI Strategic Partnership Office to explore opportunities to collaborate within the AgriTech sector
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
 
Description NIAB Open days 2018 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact Poster presentation outlining the project which sparked interesting discussions with attendees
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
 
Description Poster highlighting project progress 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact Poster presented at NIAB Science and Director's days
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
 
Description Poster presented at the First International Week on Science, Technology and Innovation, Valle del Cauca, Colombia 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact A poster presenting the methodology and initial results of phenotypic characterization of hybrids, based on proximal sensors and image analysis. The poster was awarded as the best research poster for Palmira. It raised awareness of collaborative GCRF projects in common bean at NIAB/CIAT. The poster generated questions and discussion on the methods used.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
 
Description Presentation at the second UK Legume Research Conference 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact A key note presentation including key outputs from the project was delivered at the second UK legume research conference in University of Reading, February 2024.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2024
URL https://www.niab.com/research/agricultural-crop-research/research-projects-agriculture/characterisin...
 
Description Talk providing overview of the project 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact An outline of the Climate Ready Beans project was delivered to postgraduate and postdoctoral researchers working in common bean at the National Crop Resources Research Institute in Uganda to showcase the research and raise awareness of collaborative GCRF projects in common bean at NIAB/CIAT. The talk generated questions and discussion on the strategies being proposed.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
 
Description Virtual project workshop on developing a panel of hybrid beans for climate ready-breeding 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact A free half-day workshop comprised of a series of presentations and panel discussion addressing opportunities and challenges for utilising wild relatives for breeding improved Phaseolus varieties to limit the effects of abiotic and biotic stress in response to climate change.
Invited speakers included Daniel G Debouck (Phaseolus botanist), Steve Beebe (Bean Breeding Program Leader, CIAT), Benjamin Kilian (The Crop Trust) and Tim Porch (USDA) who provided expert insights into the selection, breeding and utilisation of natural diversity present in crop wild relatives to help improve productivity and enhance resilience. Partner presentations documented the project's progress characterising the exciting new, climate-ready hybrid bean resources under development, highlighting essential screens for traits supporting climatic resilience and disease resistance, and included a virtual tour of the multiplication sites and new CIAT gene bank.
The workshop closed with an open discussion session, with the main theme focussing on how to utilise interspecifics for improving heat and drought tolerance
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://www.niab.com/research/agricultural-crop-research/research-projects-agriculture/hybrid-beans/...
 
Description Visit to CIAT Colombia Feb 2020 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact This was a project related activity to enable researchers to compare growing conditions, techniques and approaches, and involved contact with local assistants on the project and key researchers.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020