CHARACTERIZATION OF ENVIRONMENTS WHERE WILD BEANS (\u3ci\u3ePhaseolus\u3c/i\u3e spp.) ARE DISTRIBUTED IN MEXICO

The characterization of germplasm based on environmental conditions of each collecting site by using GIS may help to understand the genetic variability of germplasm collections as well as associations with ecological adaptation. Ecogeographic analysis is needed to develop any conservation plan regarding distribution and representativeness. The genetic variability of domesticated species of Phaseolus spp. is well represented in germplasm banks. However, there is a deficit of seed from wild species and these accessions are poorly documented. The objective of this study was to determine the climatic adaptation of wilds species of Phaseolus throughout México. The germplasm included 29 species and two subspecies of Phaseolus belonging to the germplasm bank of the Centro de Biotecnología Genómica-IPN at Reynosa, México. Sites of collection were georeferenced by calculating latitude and longitude coordinates based on passport collection data. Data included 101 site coordinates matrix describing (i) climatic variables: monthly average temperature and precipitation; elevations (WorldClim, Hijmans et al., 2005); (ii) photoperiod (NOAA Solar calculator, http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/grad/solcalc/index.html); and (iii) climatic type (Medina-García et al., 1998). The environment information was obtained with the DIVA-GIS software ver. 7.1.7 (Hijmans et al., 2004; http://www.diva-gis.org)