Geographical patterns of variation in Bari faba bean germplasm collection

A large collection of great interest and usefulness for faba bean breeding has been assembled at the Bari Germplasm Institute. Our objective was to de scribe the phenotypic diversity of a large sample (1565 entries from 39 cou ntries) of this collection. Entries were characterized for 10 discontinuous traits to determine variation within and among geographical regions. Pheno typic variation was found within all regions for most traits. The Shannon-W eaver diversity index varied widely across regions, but was relatively even for most traits scored. Canonical discriminant analysis and clustering of the canonical means conducted separately for each botanical type, revealed useful phenotypic groupings of origin for future faba bean germplasm manage ment. Based on the diversity and number of entries, East Europe, South-East Asia and North America seem under represented in the collection while Sout h America is not represented at all. Information presented in this study co uld be used to devise a core collection, which would contain much of the di versity found in the Bari collection.