Enhancing the Concentrations of Essential Minerals in Common Bean Seed - Strategies and Progress Using Diverse Andean and Middle American Populations.

Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) is an important staple food for many population groups around the world.  Common bean provides a host of human essential nutrients including protein (amino acids), carbohydrates (for energy), fiber, vitamins, and several human essential minerals.  Because we have been interested in improving the mineral nutritional value of common bean varieties, we have undertaken studies to characterize both the genetic variation in seed minerals, as well as to assess whole-plant mineral dynamics.  The first of these has provided us with high and low seed mineral concentration genotypes for subsequent physiological investigations.  Genotypic data on the lines we have phenotyped have also allowed us to execute genome-wide association mapping for quantitative trait locus identification.  At the whole-plant level, we have assessed spatial and temporal aspects of mineral partitioning and transport throughout the bean plant, as a means to determine critical control points that might be targeted to elevate seed mineral concentrations.  We will use these results to discuss possible breeding strategies for the improvement of mineral concentrations in common bean seeds.  This work was funded in part by the USDA Agricultural Research Service through Cooperative Agreement no. 58-6250-0-008, the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Competitive Grant no. 2009-85606-05964, and the US Agency for International Development through the Feed the Future Grain Legumes Project.