Resistance to Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. phaseoli in tepary beans (Phaseolus acutifolius)

More than 60 accessions of tepary bean (Phaseolus acutifolius) and five cultivars of common bean (P. vulgaris) were evaluated for disease reactions to different races of wilt-causing Fusarium (F. oxysporum f. sp. phaseoli) under glasshouse conditions; 95% of the tepary accessions were resistant. Resistant sources included both cultivars and wild accessions. We propose that a systematic screening of diverse germ plasm sources such as tepary beans be conducted to complement Fusarium wilt and multiple disease resistance information currently available for common beans.