Heritability Estimates of Percentage Seed Protein and Available Methionine and Correlations with Yield in Dry Beans¹

Individual plant measurements of parental, F 1 , F 2 , BCP 1 and BCP 2 populations, F 3 , and F 4 progenies of three crosses involving four bean strains ( Phaseolus vulgaris L.) were used to determine inheritance of percentage protein, percentage available methionine, available methionine as percent of protein, and the correlations among these traits and with seed yield. Broad‐sense heritability estimates for populations grown in Wisconsin ranged from 0.32 to 0.71, 0.43 to 0.56, and 0.38 to 0.60 for percentage protein, percentage available methionine, and available methionine as percent of protein, respectively. Narrow‐sense heritability estimates calculated by the standard unit regression analyses of F 3 and F 4 family means on F 2 and F 3 parental values, respectively, ranged from 0.63 to 0.79, 0.82 to 0.89, and 0.81 to 0.85 in the F 3 generation and from 0.32 to 0.61, 0.52 to 0.87, and 0.51 to 0.81 in the F 4 generation for the three traits. The moderately high heritability estimates and the apparent additive gene action indicated that selection within genetically variable populations should be effective. A low negative correlation (r = −0.30) between seed yield and percentage protein suggested that selection should be made initially for high yield. Within high‐yielding families, plants having the highest percentage protein should be identified for further selection and intermating. Absence of correlation between seed and yield and percentage available methionine indicated that selection for either trait could be made without adversely affecting the other, while the positive correlation (r = 0.33) between percentage protein and percentage available methionine suggested that both characters could be improved simultaneously.