Developing Hardier Bean Crops
Published:18 May2021 Source:University of Saskatchewan
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.