| Summary: | Beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) are a crop that was initially domesticated by humans some seven to eight thousand years ago in both Mexico and Peru. Historical records in Vermont’s Lake Champlain basin show that the indigenous Abenaki people grew Phaseolus vulgaris prior to European contact. Following European contact, beans from both regions of domestication were brought back to Europe where they were hybridized. Here we examine genetic variation in a collection of heirloom bean varieties collected from Abenaki and other tribally run farms across the Abenaki indigenous range to determine if present day Abenaki heirloom varieties bear greater affinity to the original Mexican varieties that would have been present in 1491, or Peruvian varieties that have been brought to the United States by way of colonial European trade networks. Restricted Site-Associated DNA sequencing was used to assess single nucleotide polymorphisms between these heirloom varieties. We used a STRUCTURE analysis to determine how many genetically district populations are present in this germplasm collection, to distinguish heirloom varieties of Mexican or Peruvian ancestry. Our results are consistent with both Mexican and Peruvian ancestry. Our results are consistent with both Mexican and Peruvian genepools being present in the Northeastern heirloom varieties. Regardless of this study’s results, the conclusions aim to restore some of this lost history, and will be able to benefit not only the academic community, but the Abenaki people and their relationship with their own ancient agricultural sovereignty and food security.
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