Jan Sjödin faba bean mutation collection: status and molecular characterization

Background Plant mutagenesis creates novel alleles that increase genetic diversity and enhance crop resilience, productivity, and sustainability. The availability of the faba bean ( Vicia faba L.) reference genome and a growing set of additional genomic resources has increased the scientific and practical value of mutant collections. We phenotyped and genotyped a historical faba bean mutant collection developed and characterized by Jan Sjödin (1934–2023) over half a century ago. The collection was genotyped using high-throughput single-primer enrichment technology (SPET) assays. Results In this study, we used 11,073 informative single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers spanning the faba bean genome to genetically characterize 52 mutant lines along with the background line, cv. Primus. A range of flowers, seeds, leaves, and stipule mutations were observed. The analysis of population structure revealed a shallow structure with no major subpopulations. Principal component and cluster analyses revealed, to a minor extent, that the mutants clustered by their phenotype. Conclusions Given the high marker density, our findings support the power of SPET for faba bean genotyping. Our results will be useful for breeding and genetic studies in faba bean.