Genetic Resources of Phaseolus Beans: Their maintenance, domestication, evolution and utilization (Current Plant Science and Biotechnology in Agriculture, 6)

The period following the second world war has witnessed an expanding commitment to incr~ased food production in tropical countries. Public and private initiatives at the national and international levels have led to the creation of programs geared specifically towards the improvement of food crops in tropical conditions. Examples of this increased commitment are the network of international agricultural research centers and numerous bilateral aid projects. As a consequence, crop improvement has become a truly worldwide endeavor, relying on an international network of institutions and collaborators. This holds also for Phaseolus beans. Following the discovery of the Americas, Phaseolus beans became distributed on all six continents. Yet, until not so long ago, most of the research on Phaseolus improvement took place in developed countries. In recognition of the nutritional importance of Phaseolus beans in developing countries, this has changed considerably in the last years, principally perhaps through the activities of the Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) and the International Board for Plant Genetic Resources (IBPGR). Consequently, the scope of the research on Phaseolus has broadened considerably and the number of Phaseolus researchers is larger than ever before. Front Matter....Pages I-XIII Front Matter....Pages 1-1 Phaseolus Germplasm Exploration....Pages 3-29 Phaseolus Seed Storage Methodologies....Pages 31-49 A Centralized Database for the Common Bean and Its Use in Diversity Analysis....Pages 51-65 The Phaseolus World Collection....Pages 67-90 A Base Collection of Wild and Botanical Forms of Phaseoleae-Phaseolinae ....Pages 91-102 The International Phaseolus Germplasm Network....Pages 103-121 Front Matter....Pages 123-123 Phaseolus in Archaeology....Pages 125-142 Morphological, Physiological and Biochemical Changes in Phaseolus Beans under Domestication....Pages 143-161 The Wild Relative of Phaseolus Vulgaris in Middle America....Pages 163-184 The Wild Ancestor of Phaseolus Vulgaris in South America....Pages 185-214 Phaseolin as an Evolutionary Marker....Pages 215-241 Front Matter....Pages 243-243 Genotypic and Phenotypic Markers in Common Bean....Pages 245-327 Linkage Mapping of Marker Genes in Common Bean....Pages 329-353 Genetic Structure of Bean Landraces in Malawi....Pages 355-374 A Middle American and an Andean Common Bean Gene Pool....Pages 375-390 Front Matter....Pages 391-391 Genetic Resources, Domestication and Evolution of Lima Bean, Phaseolus lunatus ....Pages 393-407 Evolution and Diversity of Phaseolus acutifolius Genetic Resources....Pages 409-440 Variation, Taxonomy, Domestication, and Germplasm Potentialities in Phaseolus coccineus ....Pages 441-463 Front Matter....Pages 465-465 Phaseolus Genetic Resources and Breeding in Brazil....Pages 467-483 Interspecific Hybridization between Phaseolus Vulgaris and P . Acutifolius ....Pages 485-502 Front Matter....Pages 465-465 Selection Methods in the Common Bean ( Phaseolus vulgaris )....Pages 503-542 Transfer of Quantitative Traits in Wide Crosses Involving the Common Bean ( Phaseolus vulgaris )....Pages 543-560 Utilization of Genetic Resources in the Development of Commericial Bean Cultivars in the U.S.A.....Pages 561-596 Back Matter....Pages 597-613