Root Phenotyping For Drought Tolerance in Bean Landraces From Calabria (Italy)

Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) is cultivated throughout Latin America and Africa, and for the European community, in Italy and Spain, areas are mainly subjected to drought stress which is predict to worsen by regional climatic models. The aims of this work were to identify the drought‐tolerant and drought‐sensitive bean landraces using drought tolerance and phenotypic plasticity indexes and to dissect the root morphological and 2D‐architecture traits related to drought tolerance. Thirty‐one landraces from diverse gene pools and areas of the Calabria region (South Italy), with different habits and morphological traits, were screened for drought tolerance in a hydroponic system. Root phenotyping was conducted by image analysis. Drought tolerance screening identified two landraces as drought tolerant and sensitive, respectively. Under drought stress, the drought‐tolerant landrace exhibited several interesting root traits such as a higher root length, surface area and, above all, the fineness of the whole root systems and, with emphasis, of the higher order roots. Drought stress induced plastic root responses in both bean landraces but with contrasting patterns. The drought‐tolerant landrace exhibited a dimorphic‐rooted strategy, which could be included in future utility for bean breeding programmes in drought‐prone environments.