Faba Bean Accessions Research Articles

New sources of earliness for Finnish faba bean breeding

Crop yields in Finland are limited by many factors, such as the short growing season and spring drought. Thus earliness is an important breeding goal in Finnish agriculture, and is especially needed in some crops such as faba bean that have a longer growing period than cereals. During 2009-2011, 400 accessions of faba bean (Vicia faba L.) from 34 countries were evaluated for morpho-physiological traits related to drought resistance and the earliest accessions were identified. The four earliest accessions, from Cyprus and Syria, were sown in a pot experiment, together with Kontu and Witkiem Manita (an early-flowering, large-seeded Dutch cultivar) in order to determine days to flowering, podding and maturity under controlled conditions. The experiment was conducted in a randomized complete block design with 3 replicates. There were highly significant differences for all studied traits (p<0.001). Accessions D497, D557 and D505 had significantly faster progress to flowering and podding compared to Kontu. Accession D497 was the earliest genotype with 947 GDD (Growing degree-days to maturity), followed by accession D557 (985 GDD), and Kontu and Witkiem Manita were latest accessions in this study (1165 and 1159 GDD, respectively). The linkage of early flowering and early maturity to large seed size needs to be tested. These accessions may be valuable sources of earliness that could be used in faba bean breeding for short seasons such as those in Finland.

Screening faba bean for chocolate spot resistance: evaluation methods and effects of age of host tissue and temperature

Chocolate spot is an important disease of faba bean (Vicia faba) caused by the necrotrophic fungus Botrytis fabae. The aims of this work were: i) to compare different methods of screening for resistance; ii) to assess the influence of the age of host tissue and temperature on this pathosystem. To this effect, a collection of 42 faba bean accessions was evaluated in mature plant stage in the field in Cordoba (Southern Spain) and in detached leaflet and whole plant tests under controlled conditions. Field results correlated better with those of the whole plant test than with those of the detached leaflet assay. Integration of results from the field and whole plant experiments resulted in the selection of six accessions of interest as sources of resistance. Influence of leaf age on disease development was found to be genotype dependent. Older leaves were more susceptible than younger ones in 23 accessions, while no difference between leaf ages was detected in the remaining accessions. The effects of plant age and temperature were assessed by a whole plant test on seven accessions at two plant ages (4 and 7 weeks) and three temperatures (13, 20, and 25°C). Results showed that the differential genotypic responses to B. fabae were not significantly influenced by either plant age or temperature, although there was a tendency towards lower susceptibility to chocolate spot in faba bean plants as they become older. Further, a partial high-temperature, young-plant resistance was detected.

Screening and selection of faba beans (Vicia faba L.) for cold tolerance and comparison to wild relatives

Since autumn-sown faba beans possess several advantages including higher seed yield over the spring cultivars, the study was aimed to screen and select cold tolerant accessions of faba beans (Vicia faba L.) and compare these to wild species in the highland of the west Mediterranean region, Turkey. A total of 114 accessions of Vicia species including 109 accessions of faba bean, three accessions of narbon bean (V. narbonensis L.) and two accessions of V. montbretii Fisch. et C.A. Mey. were screened for cold tolerance at seedling stage in two successive years, 2005–2006 and 2006–2007 growth seasons. Accessions were evaluated for cold tolerance using a 1 (Highly cold tolerant)-5 (Highly cold susceptible) visual scale. Considerable variation was found for cold tolerance and some agronomical characteristics in faba beans. Wild relatives of faba bean were found to be more tolerant to cold than those of cultivated faba beans. Although some pigmented accessions were free from freezing damage at −9.6°C without snow cover, accessions with white flowers were damaged. The proposed screening technique could easily be used to evaluate many faba bean accessions for cold tolerance. To increase yield, it was concluded that the cold tolerant accessions with high yield could be grown as autumn-sown crop in the target environment.

Molecular variation among Chinese and global germplasm in spring faba bean areas

With 3 figures and 4 tables Abstract A sample of 39 spring type faba bean landraces from four provinces in China, were compared in diversity with 136 spring accessions from the rest of the world, including Africa, Canada, Asia, Europe, and 41 breeding lines from ICARDA. These germplasm were characterised with 12 amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) primer pairs. 244 unambiguous bands were detected, of which 236 were polymorphic, and four gene pool populations were identified. The spring faba bean accessions were broadly geographically associated in their genetic diversity, and ICARDA breeding lines were relatively narrow in genetic diversity. Chinese spring faba bean landraces differed to some extent from the rest of the world, with distribution in three of the four gene pool populations. The diversity levels of accession gene pool populations were measured and compared for relationship to geographic origin.

A study of variability in the Sicilian faba bean landrace ‘Larga di Leonforte’

In this paper molecular analysis, physical, technological, and chemical traits were used to estimate the level of variation on five accessions of a locally adapted Sicilian faba bean (Vicia faba L.) landrace named ‘Larga di Leonforte’. DNA analysis was performed using the Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP) molecular marker class and two other faba beans (cv. ‘Aguadulce Samba’—Spain—and landrace ‘Locale di Modica’—Sicily) were used as controls. Although the accessions of ‘Larga di Leonforte’ varied significantly for most of the agronomical and physical traits, this landrace generally had a heavy seed weight, short but large pods, and no more than two seeds per pod. This last characteristic allowed for erect pod angle attitude at maturity. Idratation data showed difference among accessions in seed weight at full hydration and in absorption rate at the very beginning of the hydration process, while any difference among accessions emerged in terms of cooking properties. The six AFLP Eco+3/Mse+3 different primer combinations applied in this research revealed different levels of polymorphism among the faba bean accessions and a total number of 346 amplicons were generated. Around 60% of amplicons displayed a polymorphic pattern among different accessions. Cluster analysis on morphological, technological, chemical and molecular data placed the all five ‘Larga di Leonforte’ accessions into a separated group, and the Sicilian material shares a fairly large amount of similarity with respect to the cultivar ‘Aguadulce Samba’ selected in Spain.

Eco-geographic Distribution and Microcenters of Genetic Diversity in Faba Bean (<i>Vica Faba</i> L.) and Field Pea (<i>Pisum Sativum</i> L.) Germplasm Collections from Ethiopia

Ethiopia is considered an important center of secondary diversity for both faba bean (Vicia faba L.) and field pea (Pisum sativum L.). However, areas of eco-geographic distribution and the microcenter of genetic diversity are not well known. Two separate trials consisting of 160 faba bean and 148 field pea accessions were conducted at Holetta and Kulumsa in 2001. Simple and alpha-lattice designs with 2 replications were used for faba bean and field pea, respectively. Cluster analysis grouped faba bean accessions into eight and field pea into five different classes. Mahalanobiss D2 analyses showed significant genetic distances between most of the clusters in both crops. Accessions from the northern parts of the country showed tendencies of being grouped together, indicating that their genetic background may be related. Accessions from the southern parts of the country were distributed over most of the clusters showing more genetic diversity compared to those from the northern parts. This indicates that the distribution of genetic diversity among accessions is not uniform across different eco-geographical regions in Ethiopia and the microcenter of genetic diversity for both crops may be located in the southern part of the country. The existence of more genetic diversity in one region compared to the other could be due to differences in the level of variability among the original introductions to different regions, the nature and degree of both human and natural selections after introduction, and effects of ecological and agricultural conditions as major forces of evolution. Future collection, conservation and utilization programs should focus on the southern part to safeguard and exploit the tremendous genetic diversity. However, a comprehensive study involving both morpho-agronomic traits and molecular markers would be needed for a more comprehensive conclusion. Keywords: Cluster Analysis; Eco-geographic Distribution; Faba bean (Vicia faba L.); Field pea (Pisum sativum L.); Genetic Diversity; Mahalanobis\'s Distance (D2); Microcenter of Genetic Diversity East African Journal of Sciences Vol. 1 (1) 2007: pp. 10-24

Faba bean (Vicia faba L.) breeding for resistance to anthracnose (Ascochyta fabae Speg.) in the Czech Republic

In 2003−2005 faba bean accessions were evaluated in laboratory and field inoculation tests with a mixture of differently virulent isolates for susceptibility to anthracnose caused by the fungus <i>Ascochyta fabae</i> Speg. All tested commercial faba bean cultivars, both colour and white flowering, were found to be susceptible or highly susceptible. The highest level of resistance was found only in declared sources of resistance: 29H, L-8 and Petra. Segregation of F<sub>2</sub> plants derived from the cross of cultivar Merlin (susceptible, white flowering) with line Petra (resistant, colour flowering) was observed. The plants were moderately susceptible to highly susceptible. This finding indicates a multigenic character of resistance. Repeated selection cycles with the selection of resistant plants in F<sub>2</sub> and F<sub>3</sub> generations were performed. In the F4 generation, colour flowering lines with a high level of resistance, nearly at the same level as in line Petra, were obtained. In comparison with the parental cultivar Merlin an increase in the resistance of selected white flowering lines was proved. Resistance will be increased/stabilized in further repeated selection cycles.

INSECTS ASSOCIATED WITH FABA BEAN, VICIA FABA (FABALES: FABACEAE), IN SOUTHERN FLORIDA

One hundred faba bean (Vicia faba L., Fabales: Fabaceae) accessions from the USDA-NSSL Seed Repository in Prosser, WA were grown outdoors in southern Florida from December 2000 through April 2001 and October 2001 through April 2002 to both evaluate their potential as a forage crop and to initiate selections of superior genotypes. Insect herbivores and their predators were observed for feeding associations and collected for identification throughout the two seasons of trials. Sixty-one species of insect herbivores and nectaring predators and parasitoids were observed feeding on or were captured on faba bean leaves, stems, flowers, extra-floral nectaries or pods. Additionally, thirty-two species of predacious and parasitic insects were observed eating herbivorous insects or captured while searching for prey or hosts on faba beans plants. The most significant damage was caused by large populations of Aphis craccivora Koch (Hemiptera: Aphidae) that fed on terminals and young leaf and stem tissue. Six Coccinellidae species fed upon aphids and reproduced on the crop. Pods were damaged by reproducing populations of Leptoglossus phyllopus (L.) (Hemiptera: Coreidae) and Nezara viridula (L.) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae).

Screening and selection of faba bean (Vicia faba L.) germplasm resistant to Bean leafroll virus

Three hundred and fifty-eight faba bean accessions, originating from 28 countries in 5 continents, were evaluated for their reaction to a Syrian isolate (SV64-95) of Bean leafroll virus (BLRV, family Luteoviridae). Selection for resistance was based on: (i) visual evaluation for symptom expression (disease severity); (ii) virus concentration in the plant tissues, based on the intensity of reaction in the tissue-blot immunoassay; and (iii) seed yield. A large variability in resistance to BLRV was found both between and within faba bean accessions. Progenies of single plants, selected for resistance under inbreeding conditions, were evaluated for another 2-year period. Repeated reselection of inoculated plants, in the absence of outcrossing, significantly increased the proportion of resistant plants. The most resistant selections were made from populations originating from Afghanistan, China, Colombia, Pakistan, Russia, Sudan, Switzerland, Tunisia, Turkey, and Yemen.

Natural Infection of Vicia faba by Bidens mottle virus in Florida.

In a study to evaluate the potential of Vicia faba (faba bean) as a cover and forage crop for Florida, 60 accessions of faba bean with diverse genetic backgrounds and geographic origins were acquired from the USDA Germplasm Repository in Pullman, WA. The beans were grown south of Lake Okeechobee in Belle Glade, FL, from December 2000 to April 2001. Reddish-brown elliptical lesions first appeared on the leaflets of two of the faba bean plants 10 to 12 weeks after planting. Within 2 weeks of initial symptoms, a mosaic pattern was expressed on the newly emergent leaves of the same plants. After disease expression, new pods aborted, while developing pods became stunted, distorted, and blistered. Potyvirus cylindrical inclusions (CI) were found in leaf strips (1) of the original plants. Viral symptoms were expressed in manually inoculated plants of Chenopodium amaraticolor, C. quinoa, Lactuca sativa, Nicotiana benthamiana, Petunia × hybrida, Verbena × hybrida, Vicia faba, and Zinnia elegans. Inoculated species of Phaseolus and Pisum were not infected. The virus causing the disease was identified as Bidens mottle virus (2) based on host range, characteristic CI in Z. elegans, and homologous lines of precipitation in SDS-immunodiffusion using antiserum to Bidens mottle and a known antigen. Both the primary host of this virus Bidens mottle virus and its aphid vectors are ubiquitous throughout Florida. To our knowledge, this is the first report of Bidens mottle virus infecting a member of the Leguminosae.

Identification of resistance to Ascochyta fabae in Vicia faba germplasm

AbstractA total of 752 faba bean accessions were screened under field conditions for resistance to Ascochyta fabae. Several methods of assessing disease development were compared for evaluating the resistance of these accessions. Thirty‐four accessions displayed low disease severity ratings. In 15 of them, lesions were restricted in size and number, whereas in the remaining 19, lesions were well developed but scarce. These lines could have been discarded if screening had depended only on scales based on lesion type, which shows the need to complement such scores with disease severity or to use a simplified scale that integrates both lesion type and the amount of damage.

Evaluating faba beans for rust resistance using detached leaves

A method was developed for testing detached leavesof faba beans for their response to rust disease.Leaves 5 to 8, counting from the shoot tip, wereexcised and maintained on a water-retaining medium,with 5 ppm gibberellic acid, in an enclosed box in atemperature-controlled glasshouse. Leaves treated inthis way remained in good health for up to 30 days.Rust spores were dispersed in a slurry of talc andwater and applied to the abaxial leaf surface. Diseasedevelopment of seven rust populations, collected fromseveral locations in eastern Australia, was monitoredfor 15 days on eight faba bean accessions. Fouraccessions were BPL lines which ICARDA claimed to havesome resistance, two were ILB lines from ICARDA whichhad been found to have stronger field resistance innorthern New South Wales, Australia, and the remainingtwo were known susceptibles. The detached-leaf testshowed that the two cultivars were susceptible, thefour BPL lines were intermediate and ILB 3107 and ILB3025 were slow-rusting. One rust population, which hadbeen stored under liquid nitrogen for several years,was less effective at inducing disease symptoms thanthe other six, which were all freshly collected. Theinteractions between host accessions and rustpopulations were statistically significant but minor,as the cultivars remained in their categories ofresistance or susceptibility. The detached-leaftechnique is thus suitable for use in screeningindividual plants for reaction to several differentpathogen species or genotypes without danger ofcross-contamination or induced resistance.

Enzyme polymorphism in faba bean (Vicia faba L. minor) accessions. Genetic interpretation and value for classification

Three isozyme sytems glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase (GOT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and malic enzyme (ME) have been analysed electrophoretically to study the diversity within and between 33 faba bean (V. faba L. type minor) accessions. For comparison, two cultivars (Vesuvio and Talo) were included in the study. Further objective of this study was to classify populations into genetic similar groups. SOD and GOT showed large variation, while ME presented minor change. Principal components, hierarchical cluster, and canonical discriminant analyses produced five groups with significant differences among them. The alleles with low frequency played a significant role in the discrimination. It was concluded that more detailed investigations regarding genetic aspects of enzyme diversity are needed to support the data here reported.

Effect of time of sowing on flowering in faba bean (Vicia faba)

Sequential sowings of faba bean (Vicia faba) were conducted to examine the effect of sowing date and a vernalisation treatment on the phenology of a range of faba bean accessions. There was very little difference between accessions in the rate of germination. Delayed sowing increased the time to establishment, but the thermal time from sowing to emergence did not vary greatly. On average 208�C.day was required for emergence and the base temperature for germination was near 0�C for all accessions. The shortest time from emergence to first flower averaged over all sowing dates was 43 days for Accession 286 (range 29-52 days), and the longest was 73 days for Accession 863 (50-96 days). The greatest response to vernalisation occurred when the seed was sown in early autumn (April). When sown in late winter (August), however, there was little response to vernalisation despite the plants being exposed to higher mean temperatures. In that case, long and lengthening days partly overcame the vernalisation requirement of some cultivars. For the range of sowing dates normally expected in dryland crops in southern Australia, there was little effect of vernalisation on the time to flowering and the major controls of development were through responses to temperature and daylength. The range of maturity types in the current breeding program appears sufficient to extend the range of environments in which faba bean is grown.

The pattern of genetic diversity in faba bean collections from Ethiopia and Afghanistan

The pattern of genetic diversity in 106 faba bean accessions from Ethiopia and Afghanistan was analysed. Eight quantitative characters were observed. Differences among origins were highly significant for plant height and yield characters. Principal component analysis and cluster analysis were performed in order to ascertain phenotypic similarities between accessions, which could be useful for sampling in subsequent studies. A core of 21 accessions based on clusters which are assumed to represent a great diversity was defined.

Selection for slow rusting in faba bean ( Vicia faba L.) to Uromyces viciae-fabae

Two hundred and fifty-two open-pollinated faba bean accessions from diverse origins were evaluated for their ability to retard the development of the rust, Uromyces viciae-fabae (Pers.) Schroet. in small adjacent plots during the period 1978–1981. A mixture of rust isolates from Manitoba was used as the inoculum in the first 2 years and cultures of the rust races 1 and 3 were used in subsequent years. Significant differences at the 1% level were found between accessions for the area under the disease progress curve (AUDPC) and the final rust severity in the various trials. Mass selections (MS) and single-plant selections (SPS) were made from accessions for the slow-rusting character. Eight populations and/or families from accessions 2N6 (MS), 2N29 (SPS), 2N43 (MS and SPS), 2N122 (SPS), ILB938 (MS), ILB(332X133)A (MS) and ILB(332X133)B (MS) consistently had low AUDPC values and were considered to be slow rusters. Four additional progenies from accessions 2N291 (MS), 2N319 (SPS), ILB697 (MS) and ILB866 (MS) had intermediate AUDPC values and were considered to be moderate rusters. The other progenies were either fast rusters or showed inconsistent AUDPC values. Rust development and spread were also evaluated in isolated test plots using one slow-, one moderate- and one fast-rusting mass-selected plant population. Populations were found to be similarly ranked in both adjacent and isolated plots, confirming the adequacy of using small adjacent plots in evaluating the slow-rusting characteristics of large numbers of accessions or progenies derived by MS or SPS.

Yield structure of faba beans (Vicia faba L.) grown in Manitoba

Abstract In a 2-year study, over 500 faba bean ( Vicia faba L.) accessions were characterized, on a replicated single plant basis, for yield, dry matter production, harvest index, phenological traits, yield components and percent protein. Highly significant simple correlations were obtained between yield and: (a) total dry matter production; (b) nodes per plant; (c) seeds per plant; (d) pods per plant; and (e) harvest index in both years. Using multiple regression analyses, it was shown that approximately 80% of yield variability was accounted for by three related traits: total dry matter production, pods per plant and 1000-seed weight. In addition, 68.5% and 76.4% of the yield variability in years 1 and 2 respectively, was accounted for by the three yield components, pods per plant, 1000-seed weight, and seeds per pod. Yield component compensation was indicated by negative correlations among the yield components. Factor analysis reduced the twelve measured variables to seven significant factors, with only factor 1 consistently including more than one variable, namely pods per plant, nodes per plant, seeds per plant and total dry matter production per plant. Path coefficient analysis indicated that nodes per plant and total dry matter production per plant were equally important in determining the yield structure in faba beans. When these two parameters were combined with 1000-seed weight and seeds per pod, 84 and 85% of the variability in yield was accounted for in 1981 and 1982, respectively. All statistical interpretations showed clearly that pods per plant plus total dry matter production per plant adequately described the yield structure of Manitoba grown faba beans. In screening large numbers of genotypes for breeding purposes, these two simple post-harvest measurements should prove easy to measure and valuable to the plant breeder.