2006 Annual Report 4d.Progress report. This report serves to document research conducted under a specific cooperative agreement between ARS and ARC Grain Crops, South Africa. Additional details of research can be found in the report for the parent CRIS 5354-21220-015-00D "Bean Germplasm Enhancement and Improved Disease Management of Edible Legumes". Halo blight and common blight are serious bacterial diseases of dry and snap beans grown in the U.S. and worldwide. A Specific Collaborative Agreement 58-5354-4-F157 (5354-21220-015-03S) was established with researchers from South Africa to identify and characterize new and existing genes conferring resistance to these blight diseases. This work combines the molecular breeding expertise of ARS scientists in Prosser, WA, location (project 5354-21220-015-00D) with bacterial plant pathology expertise of scientists from South Africa. More than 400 individual plants were successfully characterized for reaction to halo bacterial blight in South Africa. DNA from these plants was extracted. Genetic analysis of molecular and disease reaction data will lead to discovery of new genes conditioning blight resistance in bean. Knowledge gained will be used by breeders to facilitate development of dry bean cultivars with resistance to these devastating bacterial blight pathogens.