![Phil Miklas and George Vandemark view computer screen showing results of assays. Link to photo information](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090514203517im_/http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/graphics/photos/may03/k10346-1i.jpg)
Geneticists Phil Miklas (left) and George
Vandemark use polymerase chain reaction-based assays and other methods to
identify disease-resistant bean plants suitable for breeding new commercial
cultivars.Click the image for more information about it.
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![For further reading](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090514203517im_/http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/graphics/For-further-reading.gif)
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New Pinto Bean Resists Viral Diseases
By Jan Suszkiw
January 11, 2007 "Quincy," a hardy new
pinto bean, could give growers and breeders added insurance against attack by
the bean common mosaic virus (BCMV).
The cultivar harbors two genes, I and bc-22, that confer
resistance to all known strains of BCMVplus bean common mosaic necrosis
virus (BCMNV)reports
Phil
Miklas. The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) plant geneticist is handling seed
requests at the ARS
Vegetable
and Forage Crops Production Research Unit, Prosser, Wash. Foundation seed
for growers is available from the Washington
State Crop Improvement Association.
In pinto and other dry beans, severe outbreaks of the two viruses can
inflict seed-yield losses up to 60 percent. They threaten the $512-million
annual dry bean crop in California, Colorado, Idaho, Michigan, Nebraska, North
Dakota and Washington. Also at risk are $190 million worth of snap beans from
Florida, Illinois, New York, Oregon, Wisconsin and other states.
Quincy is the first commercial pinto with this specific combination of genes
to completely control the seedborne BCMV and BCMNV spread between plants by
aphids. Insecticide spraying, clean-seed programs and sanitation are the
standard controls, but genetic resistance is the keystone defense.
Miklas and colleagues developed Quincy from a cross between Othello, a
popular commercial pinto cultivar, and the black bean germplasm line A-55.
While Quincy resists BCMV and BCMNV and fends off curly top virus, it's
susceptible to Uromyces appendiculatus, the fungus that causes bean rust
disease.
In field trials, Quincy produced seed yields consistently higher than
Othello and another cultivar, Burke. The tests were conducted in Washington,
Colorado and other states under optimal and high-stress conditions, including
soils with little residual nitrogen or moisture. Quincy's plants generally grew
taller than Othello's but took four to seven days longer to mature. Quincy's
seed is slightly larger than Othello's and has comparable canning properties.
Matt Silbernagel (retired, formerly ARS) and An Hang of
Washington State University-Prosser
collaborated with Miklas on the new pinto bean's development, testing and
evaluation.
ARS is the U.S. Department of
Agriculture's chief scientific research agency.