Abstract

Historical documents fixed the first half of XVI century as the period of common beanintroduction in Italy. Adaptation to different soil type, climatic conditions and peculiar agrotechniques,in addition to geographic isolation of growing areas and selective pressure operated byfarmers, provided the prerequisites for the selection toward a myriad of landraces. This processresulted in the selection of a different group of landraces in each Italian region.Nowadays, common bean is widely cultivated in intensive agricultural systems and, in thisframe, the new cultivars displaced completely the local varieties. Conversely, in the areas wheretraditional or low input agricultural systems are present, farmers still grow autochthonous varieties.The analysis of the most recent scientific literature show that on farm survival of common beanlandraces is a relevant phenomenon in Italy. The knowledge about the levels of diversity present inthis germplasm is an important goal in planning the most adequate strategies for ex situconservation, as well as for the management and utilisation of collections. In the lack of specificfinancial resources, any systematic cataloguing of Italian common bean landraces has beenattempted. This contribution resumes the present status of knowledge on the diversity withincommon bean germplsm as assessed by phenotypic, biochemical and molecular markers.Phenotypic variation - A considerable variation has been described for seed morphologicaltraits. In regard to the plant habit climbing types are widely preponderant. Similarly, large seededtypes are predominant in consequence of their high appreciation by consumers.Biochemical markers - The prevalence of the Andean gene pool within the Italian germplasmhas been evidenced by several studies. The highest polymorphism of phaseolin pattern has beendetected in populations from Central Italy. The existence of non small-seeded populations showingS phaseolin type has been evidenced in some authors.Molecular markers - Several PCR-based molecular markers can be used for the assessment ofgenetic diversity. Studies based on SSR markers have confirmed the predominance of Andean genepool in the Italian peninsula. Moreover, it has been evidenced that the level of heterogeneity withinthe landraces is variable and generally strictly related to the history of each locally variety.Seed quality - Still today, the nutritional and nutraceutical value of Italian common beanlandraces has been the object of a low number of studies. However, there are reasonable evidencesthat some of them have compositional traits comparable to those of modern cultivars.Results relative to the assessment of genetic variation at regional level are presented as casestudies.

Autore Pugliese

• Piergiovanni Angela Rosa , Lioi Lucia

Tutti gli autori

• Piergiovanni A.R.; Lioi L.

Titolo volume/Rivista

Non Disponibile

Anno di pubblicazione

2010

ISSN

Non Disponibile

ISBN

978-88-904570-0-5

Numero di citazioni Wos

Nessuna citazione

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Numero di citazioni Scopus

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Settori ERC

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Codici ASJC

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