Contents

#### **Preface XI**


**Upcoming Goals 99** Froylan Rincon-Sanchez and Norma A. Ruiz-Torres

Chapter 7 **Lessons from Common Bean on How Wild Relatives and Landraces Can Make Tropical Crops More Resistant to Climate Change 115** Andrés J. Cortés and Matthew W. Blair Chapter 8 **Critical Aspects on the Use of Microsatellite Markers for Assessing Genetic Identity of Crop Plant Varieties and Authenticity of their Food Derivatives 131** Fabio Palumbo and Gianni Barcaccia Chapter 9 **Wild Soybeans: An Opportunistic Resource for Soybean Improvement 163** Muhammad Amjad Nawaz, Seung Hwan Yang and Gyuhwa Chung Chapter 10 **Genetic Variation of Landraces of Common Bean Varying for Seed Coat Glossiness and Disease Resistance: Valuable**

Preface

agriculture itself.

A cropped variety or cultivar is an intraspecific taxonomic entity characterized by a high level of homozygosis, especially for the genes that control the selected traits. Consequently, the individuals belonging to the same variety show homogeneous morphological and/or produc‐ tive traits. Nevertheless, some differences in genetically controlled biochemical traits may ex‐ ist within the same variety. These variations are defined as "biotypes." Different from varieties, landraces are natural populations put in cultivation, and as such, they are character‐ ized by a wide adaptability to various environments. Considering all the abiotic factors, the high probability of interpopulation crosses and their heterozygosis condition, from the genet‐ ic point of view, these populations result to be more than a mixture of different pure lines. On the other hand, a landrace is intrinsically different, from the genetic point of view, and recognizable as a distinct entity, allowing to distinguish one landrace from another or from modern cultivars for the same crop. This differentiation is also on the basis of the great as‐ sortment of landrace names, linked to their origin, or specific morphological, chromatic and

Landraces are generally less productive than commercial cultivars, but many authors agree they have played a fundamental role in the history of crops worldwide, in crop improve‐ ment and in agricultural production, and they have been in existence since the origins of

In recent years, all over the world, the attention paid to local and traditional productions is growing, especially in the agro-food sector. Maybe, it is not only due to the impact of global‐ ization and the social and economic changes but also due to the increased consideration to health and nutritional aspects of food. Hence, for economic, social, historical and nutritional reasons, this trend has led to the rediscovery and reuse of landraces of many different crops,

This volume collects real examples of local crops and old landraces of different areas of the planet that testify the extreme importance of the relation existing among a land, the local productions, the historical traditions, the conservation of biodiversity, the health benefits, the environmental impact and the local economies, also including the significance to dedi‐

**Oscar Grillo**

Experimental Institute for Wheat, Italy

productive traits, or particular biological cycles, or many other reasons.

responding to requests for more and more demanding market.

cate resources to scientific researches in local crops.

**Resources for Conservation and Breeding 179** Enéas Ricardo Konzen and Siu Mui Tsai
