A rapid screening technique to combine resistance to halo blight and bean common mosaic virus in Phaseolus vulgaris L.

Seven bean lines (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) with differential resistance or susceptibility to race 2 of halo blight (Pseudomonas syringae pv. phaseolicola) and a necrosis-inducing isolate of bean common mosaic virus were inoculated with one or both pathogens in combination, to determine the feasibility of dual screening to identify resistance to both pathogens simultaneously. Dual screening yielded the same results as separate screenings. Neither pathogen affected the disease expression of the other. Simultaneously screening for resistance to both pathogens will shorten the recurrent screening-selection cycle of hybridization programs, and accelerate development of resistant cultivars.