Raul Blas

The common bean ( Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is a key crop in the Americas, yet its diversity in the Peruvian Amazon Basin remains poorly documented. We examined geographic and ethnographic patterns in vernacular naming and phenotypic diversity of common beans across three biomes: the inter-Andean Marañón Valley, the Highland Rainforest, and the Amazonian lowlands. Using lexical sources, ethnobotanical interviews, and phenotypic evaluation of seeds, we recorded 152 specific vernacular names and 20 generic terms for P. vulgaris across 26 ethnic groups. Naming categories relied primarily on morphological criteria, complemented by references to origin, growth habit, culinary properties, and historical events. Vernacular name richness and phenotypic diversity exhibited a congruent geographic concentration, with the highest values recorded in the Highland Rainforest biome. These results suggest a geographically continuous zone of high common bean diversity in the northeastern Peruvian Amazon, spanning the inter-Andean Marañón Valley, the Highland Rainforest, and adjacent Amazonian regions. While the observed congruence between vernacular and phenotypic diversity is consistent with historical diversification processes, the present evidence does not establish a historical diversification axis. Linguistic and ethnobotanical evidence thus provide a useful framework for documenting and conserving common bean diversity in this bioculturally dynamic region.

Diet plays a pivotal role in shaping the gut microbiota, influencing host physiology, immune function, and nutrient metabolism. In this study, we evaluated the impact of three distinct feeding systems—Forage only, Balanced feed only, and Mixed system—on the cecal microbiota of guinea pigs (Cavia porcellus) using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing in a randomized allocation of 18 males across the three diets (n = 6 per group) over 7 weeks. A total of 2,135,852 high-quality reads were obtained, with rarefaction curves and Good’s coverage confirming sufficient sequencing depth. Alpha diversity indices revealed significantly higher microbial richness and evenness in the mixed group, while beta diversity analyses demonstrated distinct microbial community structures across diets. Taxonomic profiling showed that forage-based diets enriched fiber-degrading genera such as Fibrobacter and Treponema, whereas the Balanced feed group favored mucin- and protein-degrading bacteria like Akkermansia and Bacteroides. LEfSe and t-test analyses identified several biomarkers and diet-specific genera, suggesting functional divergence in microbial metabolism. Forage-fed animals showed microbiota associated with short-chain fatty acid production and enhanced fiber utilization, while the Balanced feed group showed microbial traits linked to mucin degradation and potential gut barrier disruption. These findings highlight the strong influence of dietary composition on gut microbial ecology and suggest that fiber-rich diets promote a more diverse and functionally beneficial cecal microbiome in guinea pigs.

As a contribution to the knowledge of the diversity of Phaseolus vulgaris L. in the Peruvian Amazon, a multidisciplinary approach was proposed to understand the patterns of nominal and phenotypic diversity of the common bean in three biomes: Inter-Andean Marañón Valley- IAM, Highland Rainforest- HRF divided into four sections (North, Kichwa Central Huallaga- KCH, Central, and South), and Amazonian Lowland- ALL. The nominal vocabulary related to the common bean was identified by reviewing the lexicons of 24 ethnic groups. A multiethnic sample of 178 people was interviewed and 957 seed samples were collected in parallel. Fifty-six ecotypes were planted and evaluated at three sites. Richness and similarity variables were analyzed for the lexical unit and nine phenotypic features. The HRF was the richest (75.6%) of a recorded set of 152 lexical units in contrast to the ALL (8.0%). Northern Spanish-speaking (NSS) and Kichwa-KCH had the highest nominal richness, showing remarkable nomenclatural diversity based on developmental characteristics, production cycle, mode of consumption, origin and appearance of seeds. Nominal and phenotypic diversity provide strong evidence for the diversification dynamics of common bean from the HRF of northeastern Peru, which functions as a hinge between the IAM and the ALL.

Orange‐fleshed sweetpotato (OFSP) [ Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam] often lacks high dry matter (DM) in elite breeding material. The objectives were to examine the potential to combine yield with high root DM and high root β‐carotene (BC) content by variance‐covariance analysis and optimization of breeding scenarios for “OFSP dry and starchy,” which was exemplarily shown for the humid tropics of Peru. The trial series across seasons suggested a good chance to combine yield and quality (high DM and high BC). The unique data were used to estimate variance components and correlations among four yield traits and four quality traits. For the optimization of selections in our breeding program, we used the selection response by Cochran's approach and developed a small R script. Responses to selection were predicted for storage root yield and a modified Elston index aggregating eight traits. The differences between two‐ and three‐stage selection scenarios were small. For storage root yield, the recommended optimized two‐stage selection increased the response relative to the standard (one‐stage selection 100%) to 141.6% for 2268 plots and to 189.1% for 540 plots; the corresponding optimized three‐stage selection increased the response to 144.3% for 2268 plots and to 190.5% for 540 plots. A two‐stage selection is recommended with two to three locations at the first stage and 6–12 locations at the second stage, according to low‐ or high‐test capacity, respectively. Optimization of breeding schemes is much more important for smaller breeding programs than those with larger test capacity, and this allows testing even larger numbers of genotypes in a small breeding program.

(1) Background: Beta diversity, i.e., the variance in species compositions across communities, has been pointed out as a main factor for explaining ecosystem functioning. However, few studies have directly tested the effect of crop establishment on beta diversity. We studied beta diversity patterns of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungal communities associated to sacha inchi (Plukenetia volubilis) after crop establishment. (2) Methods: We molecularly characterized the AM fungal communities associated to roots of sacha inchi in plots after different times of crop establishment, from less than one year to older than three. We analyzed the patterns of alpha, beta, and phylogenetic diversity, and the sources of variation of AM fungal community composition. (3) Results: Beta diversity increased in the older plots, but no temporal effect in alpha or phylogenetic diversity was found. The AM fungal community composition was driven by environmental factors (altitude and soil conditions). A part of this variation could be attributed to differences between sampled locations (expressed as geographic coordinates). Crop age, in turn, affected the composition with no interactions with the environmental conditions or spatial location. (4) Conclusions: These results point out towards a certain recovery of the soil microbiota after sacha inchi establishment. This fact could be attributed to the low-impact management associated to this tropical crop.

Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoaWilld.) is an ancient food crop that originated in the Andes. It has good nutritional properties that increasingly attract interest around the world and it is considered as a future crop for food security and climate change adaptation. Currently, there is a great need to develop new quinoa varieties with higher yield, tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses, and adaptation to new growing areas. Despite the existence of breeding programs, quantitative genetic parameters that are relevant for selection gain have hardly been investigated for quinoa. We estimated these parameters for important agronomic traits in six segregating populations of 96 lines each, derived from crosses of popular traditional Peruvian quinoa varieties. The traits were evaluated in trials at several locations in the Peruvian highlands over 3 years. Maturity was the best phenological stage for trait evaluation because at this stage we obtained high estimates of heritability and high correlation of panicle trait indices with grain yield. Based on these traits, we selected the 18 best lines and characterized them in additional field trials for the same traits. Three lines (HUA × KAN53, SAL × NCO46 and SAL × PAN171) combined advantageous traits of their parents and showed lower plant height, earlier maturity and higher yield. Our work shows that the estimation of variance and variance components in the amphidiploid crop quinoa provides useful information for the design of breeding programs and the selection of improved genotypes for cultivation in the Peruvian highlands.

Loche is an ancient landrace of squash from Northern Peru, notable for its vegetative reproduction and lack of seeds in fruits. To date, very little is known about its genetics. Here, we used 21 simple sequence repeats to assess the genetic diversity and population structure of a collection of 100 samples of loche from three localities in Peru, and 10 samples of related species, C. pepo and C. maxima (110 accessions in total). A total 85 bands were manually scored, obtaining an average of 4.05 alleles per locus. The UPGMA clustering method and principal coordinate analysis showed a clear identification between the three species of Cucurbita. Population structure analysis clustered the 110 accessions into the following five populations: (i) three of loche, (ii) one of C. pepo, and (iii) one of C. maxima. Genetic diversity estimation was conducted considering only the three groups (populations) of loche identified, which was 0.024 as an average. AMOVA revealed the greatest variation between populations (79.66%) and indicated that variability within populations is 20.33%. Vegetative propagation by means of stem cuttings and cultivation in a very restricted geographical area would explain the rather low diversity of loche. This in turn would suggest that the apparent variation observed in fruit shape may be explained by somatic mutation and/or environmental factors.

Pisco is a distillate of cultural and economic importance for Peru, made from heterogeneous vine varieties called "pisqueras", covered by a Pisco Denomination of Origin legislation. The aim was to confirm the varietal identity of eight accessions conserved in the Germplasm Collection of the Centre for Productive Innovation and Technology Transfer Agroindustrial Ica (CITEagroindustrial), using 9 standardized microsatellite loci (SSR) and 14 morphological descriptors according to the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) to identify grapevine varieties. The SSR molecular profiles of 7 accessions were identified as varieties registered in the Vitis International Variety Catalog (VIVC) and only one had no association. Of these, Mollar, Albilla, Italia, Quebranta and Uvina accessions, were associated with Mollar Cano (VIVC 7901), Palomino Fino (VIVC 8888), Muscat of Alexandria (VIVC 8241), Quebranta (VIVC 9840) and Jacquez (VIVC 5627), respectively. The SSR profile of the Torontel accession was not associated with any variety registered in the VIVC and the Negra Criolla and Moscatel accessions were associated with the Spanish variety Listan Prieto (VIVC 6860). According to the ampelographic observations, it was determined that Moscatel presented phenotypic variations with respect to Negra Criolla, although at the molecular level it was perfectly associated with Listan Prieto, indicating that it would be a clonal variation. In addition, 7 variables were discriminant to identify the accessions evaluated. The molecular and ampelographic analysis allowed to clarify the varietal identity of the accessions conserved at CITEagroindustrial, Ica, which plays a preponderant role as a reference regarding the identification of the varieties used for the elaboration of Pisco in Peru. El Pisco es un destilado de importancia cultural y económica para el Perú, elaborado con variedades de vid heterogéneas denominadas “pisqueras”, abarcadas en una legislación de Denominación de Origen Pisco. El objetivo fue confirmar la identidad varietal de ocho accesiones conservadas en la Colección de Germoplasma del Centro de Innovación Productiva y Transferencia Tecnológica Agroindustrial Ica (CITEagroindustrial), usando 9 loci microsatélites (SSR) estandarizados y 14 descriptores morfológicos según la Organización Internacional de la vid y el vino (OIV) para identificar variedades de vid. Los perfiles moleculares SSR de 7 accesiones se identificaron como variedades registradas en la Vitis International Variety Catalogue (VIVC) y solo una no tuvo asociación. De ellas, las accesiones correspondientes a Mollar, Albilla, Italia, Quebranta y Uvina se asociaron a las variedades Mollar Cano (VIVC 7901), Palomino Fino (VIVC 8888), Moscatel de Alejandría (VIVC 8241), Quebranta (VIVC 9840) y Jacquez (VIVC 5627), respectivamente. El perfil SSR de la accesión Torontel no se asoció a ninguna variedad registrada en la VIVC y las accesiones Negra Criolla y Moscatel se asociaron a la variedad española Listan Prieto (VIVC 6860). De acuerdo a las observaciones ampelográficas se determinó que Moscatel presentó variaciones fenotípicas respecto a Negra Criolla pese que a nivel molecular se asoció perfectamente a Listan Prieto, indicando que sería una variación clonal. Además, 7 variables fueron discriminantes para identificar las accesiones evaluadas. El análisis molecular y ampelográfico permitió esclarecer la identidad varietal de las accesiones conservadas en el CITEagroindustrial, Ica, la cual juega un rol preponderante como referente en cuanto a la identificación de las variedades empleadas para la elaboración de Pisco en Perú.