**6. Perspectives of the conservation and use of bean landraces**

**Figure 4.** AFLP profile (primer combination *EcoRI-A*/*MseI-CC*) of individual plants from SAB (Serro Azul Brilhante) and

SAF (Serro Azul Fosco). M stands for the ladder DNA of 100 bp.

188 Rediscovery of Landraces as a Resource for the Future

The findings about Serro Azul provide interesting insights of the use and application of landraces in common bean breeding. A distinguishable morphologic diversity is noticeable within the landrace, which can be further explored to investigate genes responsible for color and glossiness [12]. SAB and SAF are consistently different at the molecular level as well, as revealed by the AFLP profiles. An examination of AFLP polymorphisms among F<sup>4</sup> lines of the cross SAF × SAB revealed a potential discrimination of color classes in the population by the molecular approach [12]. Furthermore, Serro Azul and the population developed might be used to investigate the genetic control for such incredible difference in anthracnose resistance between SAB and SAF. Another interesting observation comes from field observations where the SAF × SAB population was being tested. Usually, lines with similar features to the SAB parental line, especially the seed glossiness, presented very low incidence of bruchid attacks. On the other hand, SAF-derived lines were usually susceptible to the insects, leading to damages to the seeds.

The remarkable variability of Serro Azul and the interesting association with glossy seeds (SAB) with resistance to anthracnose and bruchids raises further research questions and opportunities for new crosses. As previously suggested, seed coat glossiness might after all have an important role in protecting seeds against biotic stresses, as SAB has shown. Conversely, we have not demonstrated that the disease resistance of SAB plants has association with glossiness, which needs more experiments. Either way, this is an important feature which might be explored in depth with the population derived from this landrace to appropriately answer this question. Landraces such as Serro Azul hold particularities that should not be disregarded, after all, local communities need those seeds for their supply, and they have traits of high interest to be explored by breeders, especially concerning the threat of anthracnose and insects to common bean cultivation.

studying genetic aspects related to traits such as color, glossiness, disease resistance and yield components. This is necessary to conserve such valuable resources as the ones maintained by small farming systems. It may as well be applicable to other landraces of common bean, in order to provide better understanding of the genetic resources available and how they can be

Genetic Variation of Landraces of Common Bean Varying for Seed Coat Glossiness and Disease…

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.73425

191

We thank Monica Rossi Lanzoni and Prof. Adriana Pinheiro Martinelli for their assistance in the microscopy analyses. We also thank the assistance and materials provided by the Agronomic Institute of Campinas for performing the analyses with the races of *C. lindemuthianum* and the valorous technical assistance of Ana Luiza Ahern Beraldo in the experiments. The results presented in this chapter received funding from the National Council for Scientific

2 Center for Nuclear Energy in Agriculture, University of São Paulo, Piracicaba, SP, Brazil

[1] Broughton WJ, Hernández G, Blair M, Beebe S, Gepts P, Vanderleyden J. Beans (Phaseolus

[2] Beebe SE, Rao IM, Devi MJ, Polania J. Common beans, biodiversity, and multiple stresses: Challenges of drought resistance in tropical soils. Crop and Pasture Science

[3] Gepts P, Osborn TC, Rashka K, Bliss FA. Phaseolin-protein variability in wild forms and landraces of the common bean (*Phaseolus vulgaris*): Evidence for multiple centers of

spp.)—Model food legumes. Plant and Soil. 2003;**252**(1):55-128

explored in favor of the farmers and breeders.

and Technological Development (CNPq).

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Enéas Ricardo Konzen1,2\* and Siu Mui Tsai<sup>2</sup>

\*Address all correspondence to: erkonzen@gmail.com 1 State University of Santa Catarina, Lages, SC, Brazil

2014;**65**(7):667-675. DOI: 10.1071/CP13303

domestication. Economic Botany. 1986;**40**(4):451-468

**Acknowledgements**

**Conflict of interest**

**Author details**

**References**

From this example to a wider set of landraces, several traits of interest might be improved with the use of distinct allele combinations if not new alleles provided by such genetic materials. Burle et al. [24] analyzed 279 landraces of common bean from Brazil and discovered considerable genetic diversity among all the accessions evaluated. Those genotypes are distributed from colder to warmer and from wetter to drier areas in the country. The local adaptation implicated in such genotypes has implicated in potential sources of disease and insect-resistant accessions. Moreover, the climatic diversity provides the potential for adapting to distinct abiotic stresses. New sources for tolerance to drought, soil salinity, high and low temperatures are to be investigated from these collections. In fact, Burle et al. [10] continued the previous work and integrated phenotypic evaluations to the genetic analysis of the same 279 landraces. The authors screened these accessions based on 22 morphological traits, including resistance to rust and common bacterial blight, yield, flowering time, determinacy and growth habit, seed coat color and brilliancy, among others. The study provided valorous information for supporting initiatives toward conservation and management of the accessions. It also allowed to detect the particularities of landraces and how they can be explored in controlled crosses for designing new populations and cultivars.
