Genetic diversity of Argentinean common bean and its evolution during domestication

Wild populations of common bean pertaining to the Andean gene pool are distributed from southern Peru to northern Argentina. The objectives of this study were to determine the genetic structure of Andean landraces from northern Argentina, as one of the potential domestication sites of the Andean domesticated gene pool, and to establish a correspondence between Andean primitive landraces and wild populations that might have served as the source of domesticated bean. Forty-four landraces and 21 wild populations representing the diversity of common bean in northern Argentina were included in this study. Results indicated that Andean gene pool in Argentina has a large genetic base on the basis of morphological and adaptive variability and biochemical analysis. The existence of introgressed populations with sympatric wild forms was evidenced.