Physiological Responses of Common Bean Genotypes to Drought Stress

Drought compromises edible vegetable production worldwide, including common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) an economically important crop that is highly dependent on optimum rainfall or abundant irrigation. In the present study, phenotypic data of 26 Bulgarian common bean mutant lines and cultivars subjected to drought stress has been summarized, and drought stress reaction was evaluated by chlorophyll fluorescence and proteomics approaches. Several basic photosynthetic parameters were examined during treatment to evaluate the drought stress response, and the mutant lines showed different responses. Subsequently, a relationship was found between productivity and photosynthetic performance with the expression of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase through comparative 2D-gel based electrophoresis; accumulation of the well-known stress-related proteins markers dehydrins and small heat shock proteins was established as well. These findings support the further selection of drought tolerant common bean lines for a sustainable agriculture.