APPLIED BEAN GENOMICS AND BIOPRODUCTS

A multi-interinstitutional partnership between the University of Guelph, the University of Western Ontario, the University of Windsor and Agriculture and AgriFood Canada has acquired through public, private sector and institutional support over $11 M in funding and resources to advance the study of Phaseolus vulgaris genomics and bioproduct development.

The common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) crop is avaluable part of the diverse $33 B agri-food industry in Ontario and is considered to be the most important food legume worldwide. Beans are considered to be the nearly perfect food because they have high protein contents, large amounts of fibre, complex carbohydrates, as well as vitamins and nutraceuticals such ascancer-fighting antioxidants. This project will rectify the current lack of genomic information available for to dry bean researches by sequencing the entire bean genome.
 
The information obtained in this project will be employed by the successful combined bean breeding programs at the University of Guelph and AAFC to accelerate the development of new bean varieties with improved disease resistance, higher levels of naturally found nutraceuticals, enhanced consumer appeal and an improved utility for bean protein in the burgeoning bioproducts industry. Additionally, the project will examine the economic consequences of bio-product demand for dry beans.

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