Variability Study of 89 Snap Bean Genotypes Using the Aflp Molecular Technique

Introduction: Snap bean is a vegetable cultivated by small farmers in some mountainous and hillside regions of Colombian. Since the research of snap bean has not had the same importance as common beans in Colombia, little competitive varieties, compared to the quahty of the Blue Lake variety have been released, with a culti-variety with low tolerance to the biotic constraints of the tropic (Silbemagel et al, 1999). The lineages, coming from crossing this variety and other well adapted ones to the tropic genotypes of Phaseolus vulgaris, exhibit low commercial quality due to the rupture of the co-adapted genetic complex that determines the characteristics of the pod (Myers and Baggett, 1999). Using the AFLP technique, the genetic variability of 89 traditional varieties of snap bean (coming from primary and secondary domestication centers) was studied, to identify genotypes genetically closer to the Blue Lake type, combining desirable characteristics of the pod to be included in the set of basic materials associated to breed programs(Beattie et al, 2003). This way, the genetic base of the culture would be bigger, without breaking the link group regarding the pod quality.