Tepary Bean

AbstractWithin the genusPhaseolus,Phaseolus vulgarisor the common bean is the most important grain legume for direct food use. Four otherPhaseolusspecies are also cultivated, although at a lower scale, namelyP. lunatus(lima bean),P. coccinus(scarlet runner bean),P. polyanthus(year‐long bean), andP. acutifolius, the tepary bean; and the tepary bean is the focus of this chapter. The tepary bean is seen by many as one of the most drought‐tolerant annual legume in the world. It is a minor subsistence crop and, hence, is not very important from an economic point of view. Nevertheless, it has some interesting characteristics. On the one hand, its tolerance to drought, high temperatures, and common bacterial blight has inspired breeders to explore the possibilities of crosses with the common bean,P. vulgaris, for its improvement. On the other hand, the tepary bean is the onlyPhaseolusspecies that can easily be transformed with anAgrobacterium‐based system, and for which several classes of transgenic plants have been described, and hence its coverage in this volume.