bioRxiv · 2026-06-06
Researchers catalogued the full US government collection of lima bean varieties — genotyping 810 accessions and field-testing hundreds across California and Washington — to give breeders a detailed map of which plants perform best where and what genes drive key traits like protein content, flowering time, and seed size.
810 lima bean accessions were genotyped via low-coverage sequencing, revealing that geographic origin and domestication history (Andean large-seeded vs. Mesoamerican small/medium-seeded) are the primary drivers of genetic population structure.
Field trials across 3 sites in CA and WA over 2 years measured agronomic traits (flowering time, determinacy) and seed traits (protein, starch, fat, seed weight via near-infrared spectroscopy), with genomic prediction accuracy rated moderate to high for key traits.
A core collection of 211 extensively phenotyped accessions plus 91 supplemental accessions was established to maximize genetic diversity for use in future breeding programs.
