Registration of 'White Pearl' great northern common bean cultivar with upright plant architecture and high yield

Great northern common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) cultivar 'White Pearl' (Reg. no. CV-343, PI 698189) was developed by the dry bean breeding program at the University of Nebraska and released in 2018. It was bred specifically for adaptation to western Nebraska growing conditions and for upright plant architecture, high yield, and enhanced resistance to bean rust, common bacterial blight (CBB), and Bean common mosaic virus (BCMV). Seed yield of White Pearl was comparable and slightly higher than other great northern cultivars in on-station trials conducted in Nebraska and did not differ significantly in yield from 'Aries' and 'Matterhorn' in regional trials. Seed size (100-seed weight) of White Pearl was larger than 'Marquis', 'Orion', 'Gemini', 'Beryl-R', and Aries in trials grown in Nebraska. White Pearl carries the sequence characterized amplified region (SCAR) marker SAP6 linked to a major quantitative trait locus (QTL) for resistance to CBB. White Pearl had a CBB disease rating of 6.0 (intermediate) under field conditions at the Scottsbluff and Mitchell Ag Labs in 2020. White Pearl also has the Ur-3 gene for resistance to bean rust and carries the SS68 Kompetitive Allele Specific polymerase chain reaction (KASP) and SK14 SCAR markers linked to the Ur-3 locus. It also contains the single dominant hypersensitive I gene that confers resistance to all non-necrotic strains of BCMV and the SW13 SCAR marker linked to the I gene. White Pearl has bright white seed, blooms 46 d after planting, and is a midseason bean, maturing 89 d after planting.