Registration of PR0401‐259 and PR0650‐31 Dry Bean Germplasm Lines

Web blight (WB), caused by Thanatephorus cucumeris (Frank) Donk (anamorph: Rhizoctonia solani Kühn), is an important disease of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) in the humid tropics. Common bacterial blight (CBB), caused by Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. phaseoli (Smith) Vauterin et al., and Bean common mosaic virus (BCMV) pose a threat to common bean production throughout the world. The development and release of dry bean cultivars with enhanced levels of resistance to these and other diseases is an important goal of the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) breeding program. PR0401‐259 (Reg. No. GP‐286, PI 663155) and PR0650‐31 (Reg. No. GP‐285, PI 663154) are multiple‐disease‐resistant bean germplasm lines adapted to the humid tropics and were developed and released cooperatively in 2011 by the UPR Agricultural Experiment Station, the USDA‐ARS, and the Escuela Agrícola Panamericana in Honduras. PR0401‐259 is a pink bean line and PR0650‐31 is a black bean line that possess the allele at the I locus that confers resistance to BCMV. Both lines have high levels of resistance to CBB and moderate levels of resistance to WB. PR0401‐259 also has the bgm‐1 gene for resistance to Bean golden yellow mosaic virus. PR0401‐259 and PR0650‐31 produced mean seed yields similar to those of the check varieties ‘Talamanca’ and ‘Amadeus 77’. PR0401‐259 and PR0650‐31 should serve as useful sources of resistance to WB, CBB, and BCMV.