Abstract
The objective of this paper was to evaluate the possible use of the biological stability concept as selection criteria for drought stress in common bean breeding program. Three commercial cultivars (Apore, Jalo EEP 558, and Jalo Precoce) and the landrace Guarumbe were cultivated in organic substrate under greenhouse conditions. Irrigation was suspended for 10 days period in a half of plants. To evaluate the recovery capacity, plants were irrigated after the drought period. Variables measured were CO 2 assimilation (A); transpiration (E); stomatal conductance (gs); water potential (y w ); dry matter (MS), and leaf area (Af). The cultivar Jalo Precoce showed the lowest values of ψ w , E, and gs under drought, and after re-irrigation, no complete recovery was observed. The other genotypes showed similar behavior and good stability for these parameters. The smallest reduction values for MS and Af were observed in the landrace, while Jalo Precoce showed the most important decreases. Our results indicate that stability could be considered a good indicator of genotypic behavior and its concept could be incorporated in plant breeding programs.
Highlights
The common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is considered the most important legume for human nutrition in Latin America and Africa
Gas exchange measurements taken at the end of the drought period (10 days) were ignored due to the detection of measurement problems caused by stomatal closure in response to water stress (Kaiser, 1987; Taiz and Zeiger, 1998)
Based on the gas exchange data analysis, the Jalo Precoce genotype was considered the most sensible to drought stress, due to its evident incapacity to recover its normal performance after re-irrigation
Summary
The common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is considered the most important legume for human nutrition in Latin America and Africa. According to Jungmann et al (1999), common bean is cultivated in approximately 12 million hectares around the world, and Brazil is the main producer. This crop can be affected by several environmental stresses, and the drought is considered one of the most important causes of yield reductions. Common beans have low tolerance to water stress. This condition is very important considering that approximately 60 percent of the world production is carried out under drought conditions (Molina et al, 1999). The presence of large amounts of genetic variability for drought tolerance is fundamental since it allows the selection of the best varieties for breeding programs and for farming production, depending on the technical and climatic conditions of the region (Neto and Fancelli, 2000)
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