In this study, genetic diversity of 119 accessions of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) from five former Yugoslav republics constituting the western Balkans was assessed by 13 microsatellite markers. This set of markers has proven before to efficiently distinguish between bean genotypes and assign them to either the Andean or the Mesoamerican gene pool of origin. In this study, 118 alleles were detected or 9.1 per locus on average. Four groups (i.e., Slovene, Croatian, Bosnian, and Serbian) showed similarly high levels of genetic diversity as estimated by the number of different alleles, number of effective alleles, Shannon’s information index, and expected heterozygosity. Mildly narrower genetic diversity was identified within a group of Macedonian accessions; however, this germplasm yielded the highest number of private alleles. All five germplasms share a great portion of genetic diversity as indicated by the analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA). On the basis of the scored number of migrants, we concluded that the most intensive gene flow in the region exists in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Cluster analysis based on collected molecular data classified the accessions into two large clusters that corresponded to two gene pools of origin (i.e., Andean and Mesoamerican). We found that Andean genotypes are more prevalent than Mesoamerican in all studied countries, except Macedonia, where the two gene pools are represented evenly. This could indicate that common bean was introduced into the western Balkans mainly from the Mediterranean Basin. Bayesian cluster analysis revealed that in the area studied an additional variation exists which is related to the Andean gene pool. Different scenarios of the origin of this variation are discussed in the article. Common bean (2n = 2x = 22) is the most important edible food legume for direct human consumption in Europe and in the world as it represents a valuable source of proteins, vitamins, fiber, and minerals (Broughton et al., 2003). The Andean region and Mesoamerica are distinguished as the two major centers of origin of this species, according to morphological characters (Singh et al., 1991), seed proteins (Gepts et al., 1986), isozymes (Koenig and Gepts, 1989), DNA markers (Freyre et al., 1996), and sequence data (Schmutz et al., Received for publication 10 Feb. 2015. Accepted for publication 14 Apr. 2015. This work was financially supported by FP7 Project CropSustaIn, grant agreement FP7-REGPOT-CT2012-316205, by grant No. 168/01 from the SEE-ERA.NET.PLUS FP7 Regional Programme and by grant P4-0072 from the Slovenian Research Agency. Accessions in Republic of Srpska, were collected through the National Program for Plant Genetic Resources, with a financial support by Ministry of Science and Technology of the Republic of Srpska.We are thankful toMatej Knapi c fromAgricultural Institute of Slovenia for preparing a geographic map of the western Balkans with collection sites of the studied common bean accessions. Corresponding author. E-mail: marko.maras@kis.si. 308 J. AMER. SOC. HORT. SCI. 140(4):308–316. 2015. 2014). After its domestication in the Americas, common bean promptly spread worldwide (Zeven, 1997). Introduction of this species in Europe dates to the early 16th century when Spanish and Portuguese sailors brought bean specimens to their homelands from both centers of domestication (Gepts and Bliss, 1988). During the last five centuries of cultivation, many landraces and cultivars evolved under diverse environments and farmer preferences in Europe (Zeven, 1997). Though many local cultivars were lost in the last 60 years, there are still many farmers who maintain old local landraces, which are well adapted to the pedoclimatic conditions peculiar to their limited geographical areas, and who have been exchanging their seeds with surrounding areas, mainly in local markets. The pathways of dissemination of the common bean into and across Europe were very complex, with several introductions from America, combined with direct exchanges between European and otherMediterranean countries (Papa et al., 2006). In the past two decades, phaseolin seed protein and other genetic markers have been intensively used to analyze the structure of European common bean populations and distribution of the two gene pools. A prevalence of the Andean ‘‘C’’ and ‘‘T’’ phaseolin types (76%) was first detected by Gepts and Bliss (1988), and was then confirmed by Lioi (1989) in an analysis of a large collection from Italy, Greece, and Cyprus (66% in total), by Logozzo et al. (2007) for a broad European collection (76%), and by others for Portuguese and Spanish genotypes (Rodino et al., 2001, 2003). Similar distribution of Andean and Mesoamerican genotypes has also been observed in phaseolin and molecular marker analyses at a regional scale (Angioi et al., 2009; Limongelli et al., 1996; Piergiovanni et al., 2000; Sicard et al., 2005; Su star-Vozli c et al., 2006). Moreover, several studies have focused on hybridization between the Andean and Mesoamerican gene pools in Europe. This phenomenon was first evidenced in the Iberian Peninsula by analyzing phaseolins, allozymes, and morphological characters (Rodino et al., 2006; Santalla et al., 2002), and later by inter-simple sequence repeat and simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers from both the chloroplast and nuclear genomes of European genotypes (Angioi et al., 2009, 2010; Sicard et al., 2005). Information on genetic diversity of common bean in the western Balkans that encompasses former Yugoslav republics (i.e., Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, and Serbia) is scarce. In this region, common bean represented a very important food in the human diet for centuries. Until World War II, this crop was grown on large areas (>1 million ha) in the field often together with maize (Zea mays). In the second half of the last century new cultivars of both maize and common bean were introduced into crop production, and the old cropping system was abandoned, which subsequently, lead to a great reduction of the areas covered by beans ( 120,000 ha). Different approaches for assessing diversity at the molecular level are presently available. Microsatellites have been considered as the reference markers for cultivar fingerprinting in common bean because they are codominant, widely distributed in the genome, highly polymorphic, and highly repeatable (Powell et al., 1996; Yu et al., 1999). In this study, the genetic diversity of common bean from the western Balkans was assessed by SSR markers. A total of 13 markers that proved in previous studies (Maras et al., 2006, 2013) to be highly polymorphic and as efficient as amplified fragment length polymorphism markers in distinguishing common bean genotypes according to their gene pool of origin (Maras et al., 2008)were employed. The collectedmolecular data allowed us to: 1) examine the relationships among the accessions and the organization of common bean genetic variation in the western Balkans, 2) identify the original gene pool (Andean or Mesoamerican) of the studied plant material, and 3) clarify the bean dissemination process in the western Balkans. Materials and Methods PLANT MATERIAL. A total of 119 common bean landraces from national gene banks of five former Yugoslav republics were used in this study (Table 1; Fig. 1). These included 25 accessions from Bosnia and Herzegovina, 18 from Croatia, 28 from Macedonia [former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM)], 30 from Serbia, and 18 from Slovenia (passport data of the accessions are available upon request). Out of 18 Slovene accessions included, 14 of them have already been assessed for genetic diversity and phaseolin type in our previous studies (Maras et al., 2013; Su star-Vozli c et al., 2006) and were used here as a reference material for the determination of gene pool of origin of the other 105 accessions. DNA EXTRACTION. Total DNA was extracted from bulked leaf material of 10 plants of each accession using BioSprint15 DNA Plant Kit (Qiagen, Germantown, MD) and MagMax Express Magnetic Particle Processor (Life Technologies, Grand Island, NY) following manufacturer’s instructions. Integrity and quality of DNA were evaluated by electrophoresis on 1.0% agarose gels. Concentrations of DNA samples were determined with a fluorometer (DyNA Quant 200; Hoefer, Holliston, MA). MOLECULAR ANALYSES. Thirteen SSR loci developed by Metais et al. (2002) andGaitan-Solis et al. (2002)were employed (Table 2). Amplification reactions were performed with a Veriti Thermal Cycler (Life Technologies) in 10-mL reaction mixtures. Each reaction contained 1 · polymerase chain reaction (PCR) buffer, 2 mM MgCl2, 200 mM nucleoside triphosphates, 0.25 mM unlabeled right primer, 0.25 mM labeled left primer, 0.5 U of Taq DNA Polymerase (Biotools, Madrid, Spain), and 20 ng of genomic DNA. Loci were amplified using a profile of initial denaturation at 95 C for 3 min, followed by 30 cycles of strand denaturation at 94 C for 30 s, primer annealing at 47 to 62 C for 30 s, DNA extension at 72 C for 30 s, and final extension at 72 C for 4min. Fluorescently labeled PCR products were mixed with formamide and internal size standard GeneScan350 ROX (Life Technologies) and genotyped on the 3130xl Genetic Analyzer (Life Technologies). DATA ANALYSES. For each SSR marker, alleles of different sizes were scored. Basic statistics, including observed number of alleles, expected heterozygosity, polymorphic information content (PIC), and probability of identity (PI) were calculated in Identity 1.0 (Wagner and Sefc, 1999) and MicrosatelliteToolkit (Park, 2001). The number of total, effective, and private alleles and alleles with frequency over 5% were calculated for each of the five groups of accessions using GenAlEx 6.1 (Peakall and Smouse, 2006). The same software was used for the estimation of Shannon’s information index and expected heterozygosity of overall loci in single groups of accessions. A

The Programme for Conservation of Plant Genetic Resources in the Republic of Srpska was established in 2008. The main objective of the Programme is effective management of plant genetic resources through carrying out of continuous field inventories and collection, evaluation, exchange and conservation of germplasm. The Genetic Resources Institute, University of Banja Luka was appointed as a expert unit for coordination and implementation of the Programme. In the period from 2009 to 2011, the inventory was made for part of the area of the Republic of Srpska. An innovative approach was adopted for conservation of plant genetic resources by means of long-term seed preservation, in vitro conservation, morphological and molecular characterisation, as well as regular database updates. Contacts were established with producers for the purpose of on farm protection of local ecotypes and populations. An ex situ collection was established in the Botanic Garden for plant species that can not be conserved in the form of seeds. By the end of 2011, the Gene Bank had reached its full operation with 455 accessions in long-term storage (-18 o C), around 150 accessions in the working collection and 100 accessions in the field collection. With its 91 accessions, the Genetic Resources Institute is part of a European web-based catalogue of inventories of plant genetic resources (EURISCO). Having adopted the Programme, the Republic of Srpska has not only fulfilled one of the world's peremptory obligations to conserve biodiversity of agricultural crops, but also a moral obligation to future generations.

This paper presents the results of the project titled " Agricultural Biomass Cross-border Development of Energy in Posavina” - ABCDE Posavina implemented within the IPA Cross-border Programme between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Its main objective is to promote agro-bioenergy in rural economies by including utilisation of agricultural biomass for energy purposes in the Posavina region. The region includes Vukovar-Srijem County (VSC) in Croatia and four municipalities (Odžak, Domaljevac-Samac, Orasje, Samac) and Brcko District in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). These areas represent valuable agricultural land with a good potential for economic utilisation. The analysis of agricultural biomass potential includes production of biogas in co-digestion of manure (cattle, pigs and poultry manure) and maize silage (input of maize silage is limited at 30% of feedstock mass) as well as biodiesel from oilseed rape and bioethanol from maize. Potential GHG savings are estimated for the biogas and biofuels use. Theoretical biogas energy potential is estimated at 1,386 TJ/yr for VSC and 574 TJ/yr for BiH. Based on the theoretical potential for generation of electricity and heat from biogas, total installed capacity in VSC would be 19.8 MW e while 8.2 MW e in BiH. The corresponding theoretical potentials for biodiesel production are 4,258 TJ/yr (VSC) and 1,415 (BiH) while for bioethanol these are 6,140 TJ/yr and 1,689 TJ/yr, respectively. It is assumed that 50% of total theoretical biogas potential and 30% of total theoretical biofuel potential are achievable. Annual GHG savings for biogas use are estimated at 31.30 ktCO2-eq (VSC) and 26.84 ktCO2-eq (BiH). Annual GHG savings due to biodiesel use are estimated at 37.46-64.22 ktCO2-eq (VSC) and 12.45-21.34 ktCO2-eq (BiH) and for bioethanol use at 54.02-92.61 ktCO2-eq (VSC) and 14.86-25.48 ktCO2-eq (BiH).

The Botanical Garden of the University of Banjaluka is part of the “University City” complex sprawling over 5.3 ha. The complex began as the "Vrbas" Austro-Hungarian barracks at the end of the nineteenth century and it was used for military purposes until 2004. After being assigned to the University of Banja Luka in 2004, the area was allocated to the Genetic Resources Institute to make use of it. The Botanical Garden facilities are divided into three separate sections. In one section, the setting up of the botanical collections of genetic resources has begun. There is a fruit collection and preliminary characterization has also started on the accessions. In addition, ex-situ collections of vegetables, aromatic and medicinal plants and herbs, industrial and wild plants were designed. In the middle section, a pond was planned and the establishment of an arboretum collection was initiated, with representatives of autochthonous woody species. In the third section, green houses were designed and a building with gene bank facilities and laboratories was built. The Botanical Garden of the University of Banja Luka, as a place for ex-situ plant conservation, is of great importance for the conservation of biodiversity as well as for scientific research in this field.

Pomological characterisation of pears of the so-called “Lubenicarka” (watermelon pear) group has been based on three genotypes identified in numerous vegetative progeny as part of the native assortment of Bosnia and Herzegovina. “Krupna Lubenicarka” (common watermelon pear) variety was recommended for the expansion of production at the beginning of the XX century, and there were two more genotypes (“Crna Lubenicarka” (black watermelon pear) and “Bijela Lubenicarka” (white watermelon pear)) that were listed under the common name of “Lubenicarka”. The research results show that “Krupna Lubenicarka” variety has vegetative progeny characterised by stable pomological features which clearly and reliably determine this variety. “Crna” and “Bijela Lubenicarka” genotypes are characterised by certain pomological distinctions that clearly make them different, but also by some similarities, whose variability raises up the question of their reliable pomological and genetic characterisation. Morphometric analyses of the fruit and leaf of “Krupna Lubenicarka” variety and “Crna” and “Bijela Lubenicarka” genotypes represent their first pomological characterisation that can be adopted as a reliable foundation for collecting, further pomological studies and genetic characterisation.

The influence of biostimulant and substrate volume on scarlet sage transplants growth and development was examined in this investigation. There was one cultivar of scarlet sage used in trial which was transplanted in pots of two different volumes. Plants were treated with biostimulant (Radifarm) in concentration of 0.25% or left untreated (control). During the trial, root and aboveground fresh and dry mass were recorded. Treatment with biostimulant and bigger substrate volume showed good results by increasing investigated parameters. Investigation shows how biostimulant application to scarlet sage transplants production improves growth and development of root and aboveground mass which is important for faster plant adaptation to stress during transplanting.