Albert Vandenberg

University of Saskatchewan | U of S · Department of Plant Sciences

In this study, panelists in rural Bangladesh (n=150) evaluated the sensory properties of cooked and uncooked dehulled red lentils fortified with eight vitamins and two minerals. Panelists rated appearance, odor, and overall acceptability using a 9-point hedonic scale (1 = dislike extremely to 9 = like extremely). We also assessed the taste and text...

Lentils are a good dietary source of essential minerals for the proper functioning of the human body. We evaluated 34 cultivars and elite lentil lines representing the breadth of the Canadian breeding program. Trials were established in 10 site-years across Saskatchewan. Concentrations of 27 minerals were quantified with an inductive coupled argon...

Plant breeders are generally reluctant to cross elite crop cultivars with their wild relatives to introgress novel desirable traits due to associated negative traits such as pod shattering. This results in a genetic bottleneck that could be reduced through better understanding of the genomic locations of the gene(s) controlling this trait. We integ...

Lentils are a good source of essential minerals for the proper functioning of the human body. We evaluated 34 cultivars and elite lentil lines representing the breadth of the Canadian breeding program. Trials were established in 10 site-years across Saskatchewan Province. Concentrations of 27 minerals were quantified with an inductive coupled argon...

Plant breeders are generally reluctant to cross elite crop cultivars with their wild relatives to introgress novel desirable traits due to associated negative traits such as pod shattering. This results in a genetic bottleneck that could be reduced through better understanding of the genomic locations of the gene(s) controlling this trait. We integ...

Stemphylium blight caused by Stemphylium botryosum, is a foliar disease of lentil. It affects the productivity and milling quality of lentil crops, mainly in South Asia and Canada. Development of stemphylium blight resistant cultivars by introgression of resistance alleles from crop wild relatives of lentil, such as Lens ervoides, is one strategy o...

Biofortification of lentil ( Lens culinaris Medik.) was investigated to potentially increase bioavailable iron (Fe) in the human diet. This study assessed the genetic variation for seed Fe concentration (SFeC) and identified the genomic regions associated with SFeC in an interspecific mapping population derived from crossing between L. culinaris cv...

Introduction: Faba bean (Vicia faba L.) flowers are edible and used as garnishes because of their aroma, sweet flavor and attractive colors. Anthocyanins are the common plant pigments that give flowers their vivid colors, whereas non-anthocyanin flavonoids can serve as co-pigments that can modify the color intensity of flowers. Objectives: To ex...

Main conclusion Stemphylium botryosum alters lentil secondary metabolism and differentially affects resistant and susceptible genotypes. Untargeted metabolomics identifies metabolites and their potential biosynthetic pathways that play a crucial role in resistance to S. botryosum. Abstract The molecular and metabolic processes that mediate resista...

Increasing faba bean production is indispensable to supply the growing demand for plant‐based protein on the global scale. A thorough understanding of genotype (G) × environment (E) interaction (GEI) patterns is critical to developing high‐yielding varieties with wider adaptation. Thirteen faba bean genotypes were evaluated in 15 environments durin...

Faba bean seeds are rich in proteins and a good source of levodopa, a nutraceutical compound. However, the presence of vicine and convicine in faba bean has limited its consumption as they could cause favism in people lacking the enzyme glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase. A quantification method for these three compounds was reported previously usin...

Increasing faba bean production is indispensable to supply the growing demand for plant-based protein on the global scale. A thorough understanding of genotype (G) by environment (E) interaction (GEI) patterns is critical to developing high-yielding varieties with wider adaptation. Thirteen faba bean genotypes were evaluated in 15 environments from...

Stemphylium blight caused by Stemphylium botryosum, is a foliar disease of lentil. It affects the productivity and milling quality of lentil crops, mainly in South Asia and Canada. Development of stemphylium blight resistant cultivars by introgression of resistance alleles from crop wild relatives of lentil, such as Lens ervoides, is one strategy o...

Lentil is an important pulse crop not only because of its high nutrient value but also because of its ecological advantage in a sustainable agricultural system. Our previous work showed that the cultivated lentil and wild lentil germplasm respond differently to light environments, especially to low R/FR-induced shade conditions. Little is known abo...

Unlabelled: Chocolate spot (CS), caused by Botrytis fabae Sard., is an important threat to global faba bean production. Growing resistant faba bean cultivars is, therefore, paramount to preventing yield loss. To date, there have been no reported quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with CS resistance in faba bean. The objective of this study w...

CDC Hickie, a yellow cotyledon field pea (Pisum sativum L.) cultivar, was released in 2021 by the Crop Development Centre (CDC), University of Saskatchewan (SK, Canada), for distribution to Select seed growers through the Variety Release Committee of the Saskatchewan Pulse Growers. CDC Hickie has good lodging resistance, medium time to maturity, me...

CDC Lewochko, a yellow cotyledon field pea (Pisum sativum L.) cultivar, was released in 2018 by the Crop Development Centre, University of Saskatchewan, SK, Canada, for distribution to Select seed growers through the Variety Release Committee of the Saskatchewan Pulse Growers. CDC Lewochko has good lodging resistance, medium time to maturity, mediu...

CDC Tollefson, a yellow cotyledon field pea (Pisum sativum L.) cultivar, was released in 2021 by the Crop Development Centre, University of Saskatchewan, SK, Canada, for distribution to Select seed growers through the Variety Release Committee of the Saskatchewan Pulse Growers. CDC Tollefson has good lodging resistance, medium time to maturity, med...

Highlights A fiber-optic spectroscopy system was set up and validated for measurement of optical properties of lentil seed coat. Light transmission properties of major lentil seed coat types were measured to evaluate their protective ability. Light transmission was detected mainly in the UVA and visible regions in all seed coat types except zero ta...

Biofortification of crops via agricultural interventions represents an excellent way to supply micronutrients in poor rural populations, who highly suffer from these deficiencies. Soil microbes can directly influence plant growth and productivity, e.g., by contrasting plant pathogens or facilitating micronutrient assimilation in harvested crop-food...

Faba bean (Vicia faba L.) has very efficient dinitrogen (N2) fixation, the greatest among grain legumes. The main aims of this study were to investigate the effect of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) fertilizers on yield, N and P uptake, and biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) potential of faba bean. Four faba bean cultivars (‘CDC Snowdrop’, ‘219‐16’...

Chocolate spot (CS), caused by Botrytis fabae Sard., is an important threat to global faba bean production. Growing resistant faba bean cultivars is, therefore, paramount to preventing yield loss. To date, there have been no reported quantitative trait loci (QTLs) associated with CS resistance in faba bean. The objective of this study was to identi...

Faba bean is a cool-season grain legume crop, which is grown worldwide for food and feed. Despite a decrease in area under faba bean in the past, the interest in growing faba bean is increasing globally due to its high seed protein content and its excellent ecological service. The crop is, however, exposed to diverse biotic and abiotic stresses cau...

Anthracnose, caused byColletotrichum lentis, is a devastating disease of lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) in western Canada. Growing resistant lentil cultivars is the most cost‐effective and environmentally friendly approach to prevent seed yield losses that can exceed 70%. To identify loci conferring resistance to anthracnose race 1 in lentil, bipar...

Understanding the genomic relationship between wild and cultivated genomes would facilitate access to the untapped variability found in crop wild relatives. We developed genome assemblies of a cultivated lentil (Lens culinaris) as well as a wild relative (L. ervoides). Comparative analyses revealed large-scale structural rearrangements and addition...

To develop crops capable of withstanding challenges posed by climate change, breeding strategies must focus on addressing multiple stresses occurring concurrently in plants. Leaf epidermal structures such as trichomes, stomata, and epidermal cells play an important role in mediating plant defense and could be essential traits that impart wide-rangi...

Faba bean (Vicia faba L.) is a widely adapted and high-yielding legume cultivated for its protein-rich seeds¹. However, the seeds accumulate the pyrimidine glucosides vicine and convicine, which can cause haemolytic anaemia (favism) in 400 million genetically predisposed individuals². Here, we use gene-to-metabolite correlations, gene mapping and g...

Background and aims: Flowering time is important due to its roles in adaptation to different environments and subsequent formation of crop yield. Changes in light quality affect a range of developmental processes including flowering time, however little is known about light quality induced flowering time control in lentil. This study aims to inves...

Pulse crop seed coats are a sustainable source of antioxidant polyphenols, but are typically treated as low-value products, partly because some polyphenols reduce iron bioavailability in humans. This study correlates antioxidant/iron chelation capabilities of diverse seed coat types from five major pulse crops (common bean, lentil, pea, chickpea an...

Objectives Iron deficiency (ID) and iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) remain a public health concern among women and girls globally, and have numerous impacts on health, nutrition and socioeconomic status. Our objective was to investigate the efficacy of consuming iron-fortified lentils on iron status among rural Bangladeshi adolescent girls. Methods...

Reciprocal F1, F2 and F3 populations of lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) were developed by crossing between lines, with a chloroplastic psbA gene mutation conferring tolerance to the photosystem II inhibitor herbicide metribuzin, and sensitive parent PBA Flash, to understand the genetic control of the herbicide tolerance. Additionally, reciprocal BC1...

Genetically accessible variation to some of the abiotic and biotic stresses are limited in the cultivated lentil ( Lens culinaris Medik.) germplasm. Introgression of novel alleles from its wild relative species will be useful for enhancing the genetic improvement of the crop. L. ervoides , one of the wild relatives of lentil, is a proven source of...

Faba bean (Vicia faba L.) was considered a minor crop in the Canadian prairies until recently, but its potential for cultivation is increasing due to its positive environmental impact and economic value. This review provides a historical summary of faba bean improvement in western Canada. Although traditional breeding methods have proved useful, in...

A validated method for B vitamin separation and quantification from lentil seeds using ultra high performance liquid chromatography-selected reaction monitoring mass spectrometry (UHPLC-SRM MS) was reported. The use of three enzymes (acid phosphatase, β-glucosidase, and rat serum) with a 4 h incubation was sufficient to convert bound B vitamins int...

Widely consumed daal (lentils) in Bangladesh are an ideal vehicle for iron (Fe) fortification; however, an acceptable portion size in meals needs to be determined to carry out a community feeding study in at-risk adolescent girls. A non-randomized crossover trial was conducted with n = 100 Bangladeshi girls (12.9 ± 2.0 years of age). Two recipes (t...

Anthracnose, caused by Colletotrichum lentis, is one of the most damaging diseases of lentil (L. culinaris) in western Canada. Lens ervoides accession IG 72815 exhibits high levels of resistance to the pathogenic races 0 and 1. The objective of this study was to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with anthracnose resistance in lentil...

Anthracnose, caused by Colletotrichum lentis, is a devastating disease of lentil in Western Canada. Growing resistant lentil cultivars is the most cost-effective and environmentally friendly approach to prevent seed yield losses that can exceed 70%. To identify loci conferring resistance to anthracnose race 1 in lentil, biparental quantitative trai...

Faba bean (Vicia faba L.), a member of the Fabaceae family, is one of the important food legumes cultivated in cool temperate regions. It holds great importance for human consumption and livestock feed because of its high protein content, dietary fibre, and nutritional value. Major faba bean breeding challenges include its mixed breeding system, un...

Stemphylium blight (SB) (Stemphylium botryosum) is a major disease of lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) in many global production regions. In Canada, SB typically occurs after canopy closure in the second half of the growing season when weather conditions become warm and humid. Experiments were carried out to assess the impact of SB disease on milling...

Flowering time is important due to its roles in adaptation to different environments and subsequent formation of crop yield. Changes in light quality affect a range of developmental processes including flowering time, however little is known about light quality induced flowering time control in lentil. This study aims to investigate the genetic bas...

Background Iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn) deficiencies are global health problems affecting 20% and 33% of the world's population, respectively. Lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.), part of the staple food supply in many countries, can be a potential vehicle for Fe and Zn fortification. Objective We developed a dual-fortification protocol to fortify three mil...

Faba bean (Vicia faba L.) was considered a minor crop in the Canadian prairies until recently, but its potential for cultivation is increasing due to its positive environmental impact and economic value. This review provides a historical summary of faba bean improvement in western Canada. Although traditional breeding methods have proved useful, in...

Genetically accessible variation to some of the abiotic and biotic stresses are limited in the cultivated lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) germplasm. Introgression of novel alleles from its wild relative species might be required for enhancing the genetic improvement of the crop. L. ervoides, one of the wild relatives of lentil, is a proven source of...

Lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) is a quick-cooking, rapidly expanding protein-rich crop with high iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn), but low bioavailability due to the presence of phytate, similar to other grains. Lentils dual fortified with Fe and Zn can significantly improve the bioavailable Fe and Zn content. Three milled lentil product types (LPTs) were f...

Ultra-performance liquid chromatography-selected reaction monitoring mass spectrometry (UPLC-SRM MS) was used for targeted quantification of water-soluble B vitamins from seeds of 30 genotypes of faba bean with contrasting anti-nutritional profiles. Sixteen vitamers from seven B vitamins were quantified from whole seeds, seed coats and cotyledons....

Faba bean (Vicia faba L.), a member of the Fabaceae family, is one of the important food legumes cultivated in cool temperate regions. It holds great importance for human consumption and livestock feed because of its high protein content, dietary fibre, and nutritional value. Major faba bean breeding challenges include its mixed breeding system, un...

Lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) seeds are an excellent source of staple dietary protein that can be a viable plant‐based alternative protein source to food processing industries. Understanding of the basis of genotype × environment (G × E) interaction is fundamental knowledge for plant breeding. We explored genetic stability and G × E for seed prote...

Societal Impact Statement Lentil is a staple in many diets around the world and growing in popularity as a quick‐cooking, nutritious, plant‐based source of protein in the human diet. Lentil varieties are usually grown close to where they were bred. Future climate change scenarios will result in increased temperatures and shifts in lentil crop produ...

The aim of this study was to reduce the length of the breeding cycle for faba bean by accelerating seed setting. We examined the mode and time of exogenous 6‐benzylaminopurine (BAP) (cytokinin) application, and cold treatments and their combinations in two faba bean genotypes. Acropetal node number of pod and seed set and pollen viability were reco...

A validated method for B vitamin separation and quantification using ultra-performance liquid chromatography-selected reaction monitoring mass spectrometry (UPLC-SRM MS) was reported. For B vitamin extraction from lentil seeds, the use of three enzymes (acid phosphatase, β-glucosidase, and rat serum) with a 4 h incubation was sufficient to convert...

Cultivated lentil suffers yield loss from stemphylium blight, caused by Stemphylium botryosum Wallr. Identification of sources of stemphylium blight resistance and knowledge of the mode of inheritance of resistance are important for developing resistant cultivars. The interspecific recombinant inbred line (RIL) population developed from a cross bet...

Grain legumes are commonly used for food and feed all over the world and are the main source of protein for over a billion people worldwide, but their production is at risk from climate change. Water deficit and heat stress both significantly reduce the yield of grain legumes, and the faba bean is considered particularly susceptible. The genetic im...

Trichoderma species are opportunistic plant symbionts that are common in the root and rhizosphere ecosystems. Many Trichoderma species may enhance plant growth, nutrient acquisition, and disease resistance, and for these reasons, they are widely used in agriculture as biofertilizers or biocontrol agents. Host plant genotype and other microorganisms...

The horticulturally valuable traits of faba bean are poorly explored, including the available information on the genetics of flower color and pattern. This lack of understanding has reduced the inclusion of unique flower color into the horticultural-type faba bean market. The modes of inheritance of two flower colors (red petals and yellow spot on...

A better understanding of the genetics of plant architecture, including height and branching, could improve faba bean breeding for varieties with better fit into specific cropping systems. This study aimed to determine the inheritance and genetic interactions of the sources of the dwarf gene (dwf1) and semi-dwarf gene (dwarf1), and to investigate t...

This study evaluated the sensory properties of uncooked and cooked milled lentils that were fortified with varying concentrations of Fe and Zn in the form of NaFeEDTA and ZnSO4.H2O, respectively. Our study was carried out among 196 lentil consumers residing in rural Bangladesh who experience with growing, processing, and marketing lentils. A nine-p...

Lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) is cultivated under a wide range of environmental conditions, which led to diverse phenological adaptations and resulted in a decrease in genetic variability within breeding programs due to reluctance in using genotypes from other environments. We phenotyped 324 genotypes across nine locations over three years to asse...

Faba bean is a cool season grain legume that produces seeds with a high protein content. Seed coat tannins limit its use in food and feed. A low-tannin phenotype is controlled by either of two unlinked recessive genes zt1 and zt2. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry was used to characterize phenolic profiles of seed coat and flower tissue of th...

Two-thirds of the world’s population are at risk of deficiency in one or more essential mineral elements. The high concentrations of essential mineral elements in pulse seeds are fundamentally important to human and animal nutrition. In this study, seeds of 25 genotypes of faba bean (12 low-tannin and 13 normal-tannin genotypes) were evaluated for...

Genomic selection (GS) is a marker‐based selection initially suggested for livestock breeding and is being encouraged for crop breeding. Several statistical models are used to implement GS; however, none have been tested for use in lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) breeding. This study was conducted to compare the accuracy of different GS models and p...

Faba bean is a widely adapted and high-yielding legume cultivated for its protein-rich seeds. However, the seeds accumulate the anti-nutritional pyrimidine glucosides vicine and convicine, which can cause haemolytic anaemia (favism) in the 400 million individuals genetically predisposed by a deficiency in glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase. Here, we...

Anthracnose caused by Colletotrichum lentis is an important fungal disease of lentil in western Canada. Two known pathogenic C. lentis races, race 0 and race 1 have been identified and current cultivars of lentil have little or no resistance to the virulent race 0. Seven Lens culinaris subsp. culinaris landrace accessions were previously reported t...

Folates are important metabolic cofactors essential for human growth and development. Eighty-five accessions from a pea genome wide association study (GWAS) panel were evaluated for folate profile using ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry. A GWAS was conducted to identify SNP markers associated with the folate pro...

Introduction: Pulse crops are nutritious and therefore widely grown. Pulse seed coats are typically discarded, despite their high content of polyphenols that are known for their antioxidant properties and health benefits. A better understanding of polyphenol diversity and biochemical pathways will ultimately provide insight into how polyphenols ar...

Polyphenols play roles in plant defense mechanisms and are natural sources of antioxidants in food. A pea (Pisum sativum L.) recombinant inbred line (RIL) population (PR‐20) was developed from CDC Amarillo (white flower) and CDC Dakota (purple flower). Approximately half of the lines had white flowers and half had purple flowers, and these had two...

Faba bean has the potential to become a key food and feed protein crop in many areas of the world. The presence of tannins in its seed coat has limited the deployment of this crop as feed and food. The expression of either of the two recessive genes, zt1 and zt2, causes a great reduction of tannins from the seed coat and results in a white flower p...

Iron (Fe) deficiency is one of the most common nutritional disorders, and is mainly due to insufficient intake of bioavailable Fe. Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) was examined as a potential vehicle for Fe fortification. Fortificants (FeSO4·7H2O (ferrous sulfate hepta-hydrate), FeSO4·H2O (ferrous sulfate mono-hydrate) and NaFeEDTA (ethylenediaminetet...