Evaluation location: Colorado, United States
Seed from the CA/SA Phaseolus vulgaris Core Collection was obtained from the USDA/ARS Western Regional Plant Introduction Station, Pullman,WA. Seed was used to screen each accession for reaction to races 1, 4, and 5 Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. phaseoli (Fop), adaptation to the local environment in the field, and to classify each accession for origin (gene pool). Races 1, 4, and 5 Fop correspond to races from South Carolina, Colorado, and Greece, respectively (Woo et al., 1996). These races of Fop were chosen because races 1 and 4 are found in the USA, and race 5 is known to overcome genetic resistance to races 1 and 4 (Woo et al., 1996). Seedlings from each accession were screened by the root dip inoculation method as modified by Salgado and Schwartz (1993).
The ratings system on the reaction to the endemic strains of rust in the field was developed by Stavely et al. (1983).