Last generation genome – environment associations reveal the genetic basis of heat tolerance in common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.)

Genome-Environment Associations (GEA) are a powerful strategy for the study of adaptive traits in wild plant populations, yet they still lack behind in the use of modern statistical methods as the ones suggested for Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS). In order to bridge this gap, we couple GEA with last generation GWAS algorithms in common bean to identify novel sources of heat tolerance across naturally heterogeneous ecosystems. Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is the most important legume for human consumption, and breeding it for resistance to heat stress is key because annual increases in atmospheric temperature are causing decreases in yield of up to 9% for every 1°C. A total of 78 geo-referenced wild accessions, spanning the two gene pools of common bean, were Genotyped by Sequencing (GBS) leading to the discovery of 23,373 SNP markers. Three indices of heat stress were developed for each accession and inputted in last generation algorithms (i.e. SUPER, FARMCPU and BLINK) t...