Characterization and evaluation of a curator bean collection to increase access to the biological potential of the preserved gene pool

Abstract

The common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is a traditional grain legume crop that is presented in the cuisine of all Bulgarian families. The National genebank at the Institute of Plant Genetic Resources “K. Malkov” – Sadovo conserves a large collection of common bean accessions from diverse origin. The accessions are studied annually in the Institute's working collection. The present study includes 40 common bean accessions, of which 26 are local forms and 14 are obtained by introduction through international free germplasm exchange from the following countries: Germany, Chile, Turkey, France, USA, Hungary, South Korea and Portugal. According to the duration of vegetation period, the accessions were divided into two groups: early-maturing and medium-maturing. The earliest ones entering mass flowering and the days to bean formation were examined. A visual assessment was made for the growth habit, seed shape, seed color, pod shape and the position of the pods. The following biological traits were studied: plant height, seed shape, seed color, length, width and thickness of the pod, pod shape, position of the pods, number of pods per plant, number of seeds per pod, number of seeds per plant, mass of the seeds per plant and the mass of 100 seeds. The descriptors for Phaseolus vulgaris of IBPGR (1982) and UPOV (2013) were used for the assessment. The results of the study complement the passport data of the accessions described in the information system IS-PGR-SADOVO for the plant gene pool in Bulgaria, which expands access to the biological potential of the collection.