• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
Monday, August 25, 2025
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News

New USask research will make bean crops hardier, help improve global food security

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
May 11, 2021
in Science News
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

Tepary bean genome may lead to sustainable alternatives for legume crops affected by changing climate

IMAGE

Credit: Debra Marshall Photography

SASKATOON – Tepary beans–a high protein legume common to the southwest United States and Mexico–may hold the key to adapting bean crops for the increasingly harsh conditions brought on by a changing climate, according to research led by University of Saskatchewan (USask) and Michigan State University.

In a study just published in Nature Communications, the researchers found that as the mercury rises to 27oC at night–a temperature devastating for current bean crops–specific genes sensitive to heat stress in the tepary bean get activated, protecting the plant.

“We are interested in tepary beans because they are very stress tolerant, unlike their cousin the common bean,” said Dr. Kirstin Bett (PhD), professor of plant breeding and genetics at USask and one of the senior authors of the study.

By 2050, the major regions growing common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.)–the most important legume protein source for human consumption–may be unsuitable and the overall nutritional quality of the crop will likely be reduced.

“Tepary beans are an under-appreciated protein crop that are ideal for production in marginal environments due to their inherent tolerance of temperature stresses,” said Bett.

The team sequenced the genome of the tepary bean (Phaseolus acutifolis A. Gray) to study how the legume adapts more effectively to fluctuating temperatures than its common bean cousin, and to combine traits of the two species into a more sustainable crop variety.

Having been part of Indigenous diets in regions such as northern Mexico, the southwest United States and Africa for centuries, the tepary bean has been valued for its ability to survive in arid environments. While the tepary bean can handle heat and dry, the researchers found it is less capable of surviving the threat of disease.

“Tepary beans have fewer disease resistance genes, perhaps because they are typically grown in arid climates where disease pressure has been less than in the wetter regions where common beans have been grown,” said Bett.

“My group was responsible for the wild genome assembly and the comparative mapping work that shows the genome-level relationships between wild and cultivated tepary bean and common bean,” said Bett. “This will help us better understand how to transfer traits between the two species. We are trying to increase the stress tolerance of the common bean by crossing with tepary bean and selecting for lines that are more tolerant to cold and drought.”

In the future, researchers hope to be able to leverage this genetic information to improve the vitality of bean crops that must thrive in extreme temperatures or changing environments.

“We are continuing to try to develop tepary bean varieties that will grow here in Saskatchewan and in other dry areas of the world,” Bett said.

###

The team included researchers from USask’s College of Agriculture and Bioresources, USask’s Global Institute for Food Security, Michigan State University, North Dakota State University, Canada’s National Research Council (NRC) located on the USask campus, USDA Agricultural Research Service – Tropical Agriculture Research Station, Alabama-based HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, and the U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute.

The Saskatoon contingent of the research team included USask bioinformatics specialists Chushin Koh and Larissa Ramsay, and Sateesh Kagale, a research scientist at NRC.

The research was supported locally by Saskatchewan Pulse Growers, and internationally by the Michigan State University Plant Resilience Institute, the United States Agency for International Development and the United States Department of Agriculture.

Media Contact
Victoria Dinh
[email protected]

Related Journal Article

http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-22858-x

Tags: AgricultureBiodiversityBiotechnologyClimate ChangeEcology/EnvironmentFood/Food ScienceGeneticsPlant Sciences
Share12Tweet8Share2ShareShareShare2

Related Posts

blank

Unveiling Archaeoniscus brodiei: Early Cretaceous Isopod Insights

August 25, 2025
Assessing Runting Causes and Impacts in Poultry Hatcheries

Assessing Runting Causes and Impacts in Poultry Hatcheries

August 25, 2025

Post-Fire Growth Insights of Cyathea Mexiae in Brazil

August 25, 2025

Pollinators Use Sight and Smell for Flower Identification

August 25, 2025
Please login to join discussion

POPULAR NEWS

  • blank

    Molecules in Focus: Capturing the Timeless Dance of Particles

    141 shares
    Share 56 Tweet 35
  • Breakthrough in Computer Hardware Advances Solves Complex Optimization Challenges

    134 shares
    Share 54 Tweet 34
  • New Drug Formulation Transforms Intravenous Treatments into Rapid Injections

    115 shares
    Share 46 Tweet 29
  • Neuropsychiatric Risks Linked to COVID-19 Revealed

    81 shares
    Share 32 Tweet 20

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

Unveiling Archaeoniscus brodiei: Early Cretaceous Isopod Insights

Assessing Runting Causes and Impacts in Poultry Hatcheries

Post-Fire Growth Insights of Cyathea Mexiae in Brazil

  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.