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Inheritance of Crude Protein Percentage and Its Correlation with Seed Yield in Beans, Phaseolus vulgaris L.¹

Five lines of dry beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) were selected for differences in protein content and were used as parents in crosses. The F₁, F₂, and F₃ mean crude protein contents were generally between the parents, but slightly closer to the low-protein parent. Reciprocal differences in protein of F₁ seeds and its absence in F₂ seeds showed that the maternal genotype controlled seed protein content.

Broad-sense heritability estimates ranged from 30.7% to 63.7%. The narrow-sense heritability estimates were 20.1% for backcrosses and 5.0% and 12% based on F₃/F₂ regression. These low values indicate high environmental influence on crude protein content and relatively low additive genetic variance.

Yield and crude protein percentage were generally negatively correlated in F₂ and F₃ plants from crosses between low and high percent crude protein bean lines. Seed yield and protein yield were highly correlated. The highest total seed protein was produced by plants average or below average in percent crude protein. In breeding for total protein production per unit area, progress appears more likely if efforts are directed toward increased seed yield while maintaining percent crude protein near average levels rather than by selecting for high protein in the seeds alone.

Generally, high-yielding segregates tended to be relatively low in protein percentage. Among F₂ and F₃ progenies, however, there were plants that were high in seed yield and had above-average percent crude protein.

Key Words: Broad- and narrow-sense heritability estimates

² Former graduate student (now Lecturer at Ahmadu Bello University, Nigeria); Associate Professor of Vegetable Crops, N.Y.S. Agricultural Experiment Station, Geneva; Professor of Agronomy, Cornell University, Ithaca; Associated Professor, Food Science and Technology, N.Y.S. Agricultural Experiment Station, Geneva, respectively.

Received for publication June 26, 1971.