Search Results (10)

Vicia faba L. (faba bean) is one of the most promising pulse crops due to its nutritional value and high nitrogen fixation capacity. The aim of the present study was to compare the genetic diversity and the seed metabolite profiles of five genetic materials of faba bean. Specifically, three newly developed advanced lines (KK18, KK14 and KK10) and two commercial cultivars (POLIKARPI and TANAGRA), were evaluated for this purpose. Genetic diversity among populations was assessed by SCoT molecular markers. Through UPGMA dendrogram, genetic distances between populations were estimated. Untargeted metabolomics analysis of the seeds was performed employing GC/EI/MS. The cultivar POLYKARPI exhibited the highest polymorphism. All varieties showed a higher within-cultivars and advanced lines variability than between. POLYKARPI and KK14 had the lowest genetic distances, while KK18 and TANAGRA presented the highest ones. The advanced line KK18 displayed the best nutritional profile, the highest concentration of desirable metabolites (lactic acid and trehalose), the lowest concentration of anti-nutritional factors (oxalic acid) and the lowest concentration of saturated fatty acids (palmitic and stearic acid). According to the results of the present study, KK18 line is a very promising material for further exploration and utilization in breeding programs. Full article

Faba bean (Vicia faba L.) is an important grain legume with high protein content (approximately 25–30%) and high nutritional value. It is broadly cultivated in temperate areas both for human consumption and as animal feed. According to FAOSTAT (2020), the total cultivated area of faba bean reached approximately 2.5 million ha, yielding more than 4.5 million tons. The characterization of the genetic diversity in faba bean is an important parameter for genetic and biodiversity studies, germplasm characterization, and for introducing genetic variability in plant breeding. The present study aims to assess the genetic diversity among 53 Greek, varied faba bean populations provided by the Hellenic Agricultural Organization “DEMETER” seed bank. To determine the genetic diversity of the studied populations, six SCoT DNA markers were used. A total of 114 loci were obtained with 37.95% being polymorphic and 62.05% monomorphic within or between populations. SCoT markers are a useful tool for the detection of genetic diversity among faba bean populations and encourage targeted crossing strategies. The present study is the first step towards the development of an efficient breeding program. Full article

Faba bean (Vicia faba L.), a drought-sensitive crop, is drastically affected by drought stresses compromising its growth and yield. However, wild relatives of faba bean are considered a reservoir of potential genetic resources for tolerance against abiotic stresses. This study was conducted to characterize wild relatives of faba bean for identification of a specific tolerance system required for its improvement against drought stress. The study focused on physiological, biochemical, and anatomical responses of wild Vicia species under drought stress conditions. The experiment was carried out under various levels of drought stress imposed through different field capacities (FC) which included 80% FC ie (well-watered condition), 55% FC (moderate stress), and 30% FC (severe stress). When compared to plants grown in a control environment, drought stress significantly reduced the studied physiological attributes including soluble sugars (21.3% and 15.8%), protein contents (14.7 and 14.6%), and chlorophyll (8.4 and 28.6%) under moderate (55% FC) and severe drought stress (30% FC), respectively. However, proline content increased by 20.5% and 27.6%, peroxidase activity by 48.5% and 57.1%, and superoxide dismutase activity by 72.6% and 64.8% under moderate and severe stress, respectively. The studied anatomical attributes were also affected under drought stress treatments, including diameter of stem xylem vessels (9.1% and 13.7%), leaf lower epidermal thickness (8.05% and 13.34%), and leaf phloem width (5.3% and 10.1%) under moderate and severe stress, respectively. Wild Vicia spp. showed better tolerance to water-deficit conditions as compared to cultivated Vicia L. The observed potential diversity for drought tolerance in wild Vicia spp. may assist in improvement of faba bean and may also help in understanding the mechanisms of adaptations in drought-prone environments. Full article

Faba bean (Vicia faba L.) Algerian accessions represent an essential source of traits of interest for crop improvement, especially for tackling climate change, because their genetic background and potential have not been well studied. The purpose of this research was to assess the genetic variability of 14 Algerian faba bean accessions by means of 10 agro-morphological traits and 7 simple sequence repeat markers (SSRs). ANOVA analysis showed a large significant phenotypic variation in fruit setting (FS), seed length (SL), seed width (SW), and 100-seeds weight (HSW), which arose as the main discriminant characters as revealed by principal component analysis (PCA). In addition, SSR analysis identified a total of twenty different alleles within our collection with a mean of 2.85 alleles per locus. The polymorphism information content (PIC) ranged from 0.32 to 0.58, with a mean of 0.44. Observed heterozygosity (Ho) ranged from 0.57 to 1.00 with a mean of 0.72, while the expected one (He) varied from 0.42 to 0.67, reaching a mean of 0.57. Based on agro-morphological as well as molecular data, the 14 accessions were not clustered according to the geographical pattern, as also confirmed by principal coordinate analysis (PCoA). Moreover, AMOVA highlighted that most of the overall genetic variation within our collection was the result of strong differentiation among accessions (84%). Finally, the Mantel test revealed that there was no substantial correlation between the molecular and agro-morphological traits (r = −0.025, p > 0.05). These findings represent a first step toward faba been breeding programs establishment in Algeria, indicating that our collection exhibited optimal agro- and molecular diversity to identify specific traits useful in Mediterranean environment. Full article

Plant residues introduced into the soil influence the soil’s physical, chemical, and consequently, biological parameters, which have an influence on plant health and yields. This study was undertaken to evaluate the effects of the cultivation of widespread plant species, faba bean (Vicia faba L., F) and wheat (Triticum aestivum L., W) (as forecrops) grown under conventionally tilled fields, on the diversity of microorganisms and the enzymatic activities of soil during the growth of the subsequent wheat. Bulk soil samples (0–20 cm) were taken three times from two months after residue incorporation into the soil to the maturity of the subsequent wheat crop in order to assess the fungal and bacterial communities (Next Generation Sequencing (NGS), terminal restriction fragments lengths polymorphism (t-RFLP)), ammonia oxidizing archaea (t-RFLP, denaturing gradient gel glectrophoresis (DGGE)), and the enzymatic activity of soil. Differences in the genetic structure of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) were observed for each treatment and sampling term, indicating that plant and weather conditions are the driving force for microorganism selection and adaptation. We observed that the fungal community was more influenced by the forecrop type used than the bacterial community. The activities of the enzymes changed in response to the forecrop and sampling period. A higher number of microorganisms that are associated with plant benefits with respect to nutrients and growth, as well as higher amounts of N in the residues, was noted in faba bean than in wheat soil. This could indicate better growth conditions after faba bean and, consequently, better yield quality and quantity. This may also indicate some protective role of the soil after faba bean against pathogens, which may be connected with lower fungicide requirements. The obtained results lead to a deeper understanding of the microorganism reactions to faba bean and wheat residues during wheat cultivation. In addition, they may be helpful in improving our understanding of subsequent crop yield responses to forecrops. Full article

Cultivation of faba bean (Vicia faba L.) in Tunisia is largely based on improved varieties of the crop. However, a few farmers continue to produce local cultivars or landraces. The National Gene Bank of Tunisia (NGBT) recently launched a collection project for faba bean landraces, with special focus on the regions of the North West, traditionally devoted to cultivating grain legumes, and where around 80% of the total national faba bean cultivation area is located. The seed phenotypic features of the collected samples were studied, and the genetic diversity and population structure analyzed using simple sequence repeat markers. The genetic constitution of the present samples was compared to that of faba bean samples collected by teams of the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) in the 1970s in the same region, and stored at the ICARDA gene bank. The results of the diversity analysis demonstrate that the recently collected samples and those stored at ICARDA largely overlap, thus demonstrating that over the past 50 years, little genetic change has occurred to the local faba bean populations examined. These findings suggest that farmers serendipitously applied international best practices for in situ conservation of agricultural crops. Full article

Faba bean have been grown in Portugal for a long time and locally adapted populations are still maintained on farm. The genetic diversity of four Portuguese faba bean populations that are still cultivated in some regions of the country was evaluated using the Inter Retrotransposons Amplified Polymorphism (IRAP) technique. It was shown that molecular markers based on retrotransposons previously identified in other species can be efficiently used in the genetic variability assessment of Vicia faba. The IRAP experiment targeting Athila yielded the most informative banding patterns. Cluster analysis using the neighbor-joining algorithm generated a dendrogram that clearly shows the distribution pattern of V. faba samples. The four equina accessions are separated from each other and form two distinct clades while the two major faba bean accessions are not unequivocally separated by the IRAP. Fluorescent In Situ Hybridization (FISH) analysis of sequences amplified by IRAP Athila revealed a wide distribution throughout V. faba chromosomes, confirming the whole-genome coverage of this molecular marker. Morphological characteristics were also assessed through cluster analysis of seed characters using the unweighted pair group method arithmetic average (UPGMA) and principal component analysis (PCA), showing a clear discrimination between faba bean major and equina groups. It was also found that the seed character most relevant to distinguish accessions was 100 seed weight. Seed morphological traits and IRAP evaluation give similar results supporting the potential of IRAP analysis for genetic diversity studies. Full article

Detection of genetic diversity is important for characterisation of crop plant collections in order to detect the presence of valuable trait variation for use in breeding programs. A collection of faba bean (Vicia faba L.) genotypes was evaluated for intra- and inter-population diversity using a set of 768 genome-wide distributed single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers, of which 657 obtained successful amplification and detected polymorphisms. Gene diversity and polymorphism information content (PIC) values varied between 0.022–0.500 and 0.023–1.00, with averages of 0.363 and 0.287, respectively. The genetic structure of the germplasm collection was analysed and a neighbour-joining (NJ) dendrogram was constructed. The faba bean accessions grouped into two major groups, with several additional smaller sub-groups, predominantly on the basis of geographical origin. These results were further supported by principal co-ordinate analysis (PCoA), deriving two major groupings which were differentiated on the basis of site of origin and pedigree relationships. In general, high levels of heterozygosity were observed, presumably due to the partially allogamous nature of the species. The results will facilitate targeted crossing strategies in future faba bean breeding programs in order to achieve genetic gain. Full article

Faba bean (Vicia faba L.) is a major food source and fodder legume, popularly known for its high content of seed-protein. Its role is critical in crop rotation, and for fixing nitrogen effectively. Polymorphic simple sequence repeat markers from transcript sequences (cDNA; simple sequence repeat [SSR]) were developed for faba bean (Vicia faba). We found that 1,729 SSR loci from 81,333 individual sequence reads and 240 primer pairs were designed and synthesized. In total, 55 primer pairs were found to be polymorphic and scorable consistently when screened in 32 accessions. The number of alleles ranged from 2 to 15, frequency of major alleles per locus varied from 0.17 to 0.91, the genotypes number ranged from 2 to 17, observed and expected heterozycosity values ranged from 0.00 to 0.44 and 0.17 to 0.89 and overall PIC values ranged from 0.16 to 0.88 respectively. These markers will be a useful tool for assessing the genetic diversity, understanding the population structure, and breeding patterns of faba bean. Full article

Sequence-related amplified polymorphism (SRAP) markers were used to assess the genetic diversity and relationship among 58 faba bean (Vicia faba L.) genotypes. Fourteen SRAP primer combinations amplified a total of 1036 differently sized well-resolved peaks (fragments), of which all were polymorphic with a 0.96 PIC value and discriminated all of the 58 faba bean genotypes. An average pairwise similarity of 21% was revealed among the genotypes ranging from 2% to 65%. At a similarity of 28%, UPGMA clustered the genotypes into three main groups comprising 78% of the genotypes. The local landraces and most of the Egyptian genotypes in addition to the Sudan genotypes were grouped in the first main cluster. The advanced breeding lines were scattered in the second and third main clusters with breeding lines from the ICARDA and genotypes introduced from Egypt. At a similarity of 47%, all the genotypes formed separated clusters with the exceptions of Hassawi 1 and Hassawi 2. Group analysis of the genotypes according to their geographic origin and type showed that the landraces were grouped according to their origin, while others were grouped according to their seed type. To our knowledge, this is the first application of SRAP markers for the assessment of genetic diversity in faba bean. Such information will be useful to determine optimal breeding strategies to allow continued progress in faba bean breeding. Full article