Registration of ‘White Pearl’ great northern common bean cultivar with upright plant architecture and high yield

Authors: URREA, CARLOS - University Of Nebraska; Pastor Corrales, Marcial; VALENTINI, GISELI - Oak Ridge Institute For Science And Education (ORISE); XAVIER, LARISSA - Universidade Estadual De Maringá; SANCHEZ-BETANCOURT, ERIKA - University Of Nebraska

Submitted to: Journal of Plant Registrations
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/1/2021
Publication Date: 1/1/2022
Citation: Urrea, C.A., Pastor Corrales, M.A., Valentini, G., Xavier, L.S., Sanchez-Betancourt, E. 2022. Registration of ‘White Pearl’ great northern common bean cultivar with upright plant architecture and high yield. Journal of Plant Registrations. 16(1):6-12. https://doi.org/10.1002/plr2.20167.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/plr2.20167

Interpretive Summary: White Pearl is a new great northern common bean cultivar specifically bred for Nebraska which leads all states in the U.S. in the production of great northern dry common beans. Successful great northern dry bean varieties contain multiple desirable traits. Among them, high yield potential is paramount. Upright architecture is also essential in varieties suitable for direct harvest. In addition, genetic resistance to multiple diseases is very important. The rust fungus, common bacterial blight (CBB) and bean common mosaic virus (BCMV) are recurrent, major diseases that threaten bean production in Nebraska. Traditional plant pathology methods and genomic technologies were used in the identification of rust resistance traits in White Pearl. This cultivar along with control cultivars were evaluated in the field and greenhouse for the presence of resistance that controls rust, CBB, and the BCMV. All studies conducted revealed that White Pearl has an upright plant architecture, high yield potential, broad adaptation to Western Nebraska growing conditions, good seed quality, and enhanced resistance to bean rust, CBB, and BCMV diseases. This variety will be important to farmers and growers of dry common beans in Nebraska and other growing regions in the United States.

Technical Abstract: Great northern common bean cultivar ‘White Pearl’ (Reg. No.CV-, PI) was developed by the dry bean breeding program at the University of Nebraska and released in 2018. It was bred specifically for adaptation to western Nebraska growing conditions and for upright plant architecture, high yield, and enhanced resistance to bean rust, common bacterial blight (CBB) and bean common mosaic virus (BCMV). Seed yield of White Pearl was comparable and slightly higher than other great northern cultivars in on-station trials conducted in Nebraska and was greater than the high-yielding Matterhorn in regional trials. Seed size (100-seed weight) of White Pearl was larger than that of Marquis, Orion, Gemini, Beryl-R and Aries in trials grown in Nebraska and larger than Matterhorn in regional trials. White Pearl carries the SCAR marker SAP6 linked to a major QTL for resistance to the CBB disease. White Pearl had a CBB disease rating of 6.0 (intermediate) under field conditions at the Scottsbluff and Mitchell Ag Labs in 2020. White Pearl also has the Ur-3 gene for resistance to bean rust and carries the SS68 KASP and SK14 SCAR markers linked to the Ur-3 locus. It also contains the single dominant hypersensitive I gene that confers resistance to all non-necrotic strains of the BCMV and the SW13 SCAR marker linked to the I gene. White Pearl has bright white seed, blooms 46 d after planting, and is a midseason bean, maturing 89 d after planting.