Crop biodiversity, and our understanding of its organization and function, is an essential component of a resilient and sustainable agriculture faced with the challenges of climate change mitigation, an ever-increasing human population, and wealth-induced changes in consumption patterns. The genus Phaseolus provides an excellent experimental model because the genus harbors no less than five domesticated species, two of which have been domesticated twice, for a total of seven domestications. These domesticated species reflect different agro-ecological adaptations and can serve both as sources of genetic diversity for the improvement of the major species, P. vulgaris, or common bean, and as crops in their own right. The PHANDOM network combines the complementary expertise and skills of researchers across the genus Phaseolus, to address the process of domestication with cutting-edge tools and to apply this information to improvement of bean cultivars, through commit to support each other in organising and setting scientific activities in a multi-lateral context .
Partners: Kirstin E. Bett (Department of Plant Sciences, University of Saskatoon, Canada), Paul Gepts (University of California, Davis, USA), Jim Weller (School of Natural Sciences, University of Tasmania, Australia).