Problematica reciente de la domesticacion del frijol

Different aspects on the history, screening, and domestication effect on the evolution of the bean species are discussed, based on the concept of species domestication. Data are examined on plant systematics and geography, etnological botany, biochemistry, arqueology, and genetics of the crop. The Phaseoli section includes 50-70 known species, of which only 5 are cultivated: Phaseolus vulgaris, P. lunatus, P. coccineus, P. polyanthus, and P. acutifolius. Considerations are given on the causes affecting the process of domestication in other species and the geographical distribution of the wild forms considered escaped or reggressive (by escaping the process of initial domestication), that are different from the wild ancestral forms although related with the currently cultivated species. Ethnological botany and biochemical data suggest that the domestication of P. vulgaris and P. lunatus, took place in areas different from the neotropics and in a separate way, and that of P. polyanthus and P. acutifolius in probably only one area of Mesoamerica. Phaseolin type is used in P. vulgaris to establish the relationship between the wild material and the cultivated species. The degree of domestication seems to differ among the different species. (CIAT)