Genetic effects of plant plant interactions depend on neighbor identity and environmental context

Genome-wide association in 200 common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) lines shows six genomic regions with indirect effects on maize–bean interactions, modulated by maize landrace identity and field environment.

• Why it matters: Genetic variation’s role in interspecific plant interactions is unclear, limiting understanding of how community productivity and resilience emerge from neighbor identity and changing environments.
• What they did: Across multi-environment field phenotyping, bean lines were grown with three maize (Zea mays ssp. mays) landraces, and genome-wide association linked bean genomic variation to bean and maize traits, including direct and indirect effects.
• The result: Interactions were strongly asymmetric with maize as the dominant competitor; bean responses to maize identity spanned phenology, vegetative development, productivity, and root architecture, with no evidence of bean local adaptation.

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