Anthracnose, caused by the fungus Colletotrichum lindemuthianum (Sacc. & Magnus) Briosi & Cavara, is one of the most destructive diseases of dry bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) in the world. Between 2005 and 2015, commercial fields of dry beans in Manitoba and Ontario were surveyed to determine the frequency of occurrence of races of the anthracnose fungus. Throughout the study, race 73 was most prevalent in Manitoba and Ontario. However, three anthracnose races not previously reported in Canada also were identified. These three new races and four previously identified anthracnose races were used to screen 52 dry bean cultivars, as well as a mung bean and azuki bean cultivar from Ontario, for their seedling reactions to determine their patterns of race resistance. The dry bean cultivars were classified into a total of 19 resistance spectra based on the pattern of seedling reactions to the seven anthracnose races. The most common resistance spectrum was susceptible to the majority of the anthracnose races and no cultivar was resistant to all of the races. Many bean cultivars produced intermediate anthracnose ratings to races 31 and 105 and tests of 16 dry bean cultivars against those races indicated that all cultivars with intermediate ratings to a specific race were segregating in their seedling reactions and none of the cultivars produced plants with only intermediate anthracnose severity ratings. This study provides new information on the anthracnose reactions of common bean cultivars in Canada, which should be useful for the development of new bean cultivars with durable resistance.
