Abstract
The objective of this work was to evaluate the genetic variability of common bean lines for cycle, weight of 100 grains, grain yield, cooking time, and grain calcium and iron concentrations. Twenty-four common bean lines were evaluated in two crop cycles (2010 and 2011). The ¯Z index was used for the selection of superior lines for most of the traits. The DF 06-19, DF 06-03, DF 06-17, DF 06-20, DF 06-11, DF 06-14, DF 06-01, DF 06-08, DF 06-22, and DF 06-04 lines showed high grain yield. All lines were of semi-early cycle and of fast cooking. The DF 06-08 and DF 06-23 lines showed high calcium concentration in grains (>1.4 g kg-1 dry matter - DM), and the DF 06-09, DF 06-03, DF 06-04, and DF 06-06 lines presented high iron concentration in grains (>0.95 g kg-1 DM) in the two crop cycles. The DF 06-09 and DF 06-03 carioca lines present high agronomic performance and high iron concentration in grains. The DF 06-17 and DF 06-08 black lines present high agronomic performance and high calcium concentration in grains. The selection of the DF 06-09, DF 06-03, DF 06-17, and DF 06-08 lines is recommended.
Highlights
Nutritional deficiencies of calcium and iron can be minimized by biofortification, which is the process of increasing the concentration of bioavailable essential elements in the edible parts of plants by genetic improvement (Welch & Graham, 2004; White & Broadley, 2005)
Narrow-sense heritability of calcium concentration in common bean grains of Middle American origin ranged from intermediate (h2r=47%) to high (h2r=63.61%), and the predominance of additive genetic effects was reported in early generations (Jost et al, 2009b)
The performance of crosses and selection of recombinants are a promising strategy for the selection of common bean lines with high calcium concentration in grains
Summary
Nutritional deficiencies of calcium and iron can be minimized by biofortification, which is the process of increasing the concentration of bioavailable essential elements in the edible parts of plants by genetic improvement (Welch & Graham, 2004; White & Broadley, 2005). Common bean is the legume with the highest volume of grains consumed worldwide, and is the main source of dietary protein in many countries of Latin America and East/South Africa (Broughton et al, 2003); improvement by biofortification is a promising strategy for this species. Narrow-sense heritability of calcium concentration in common bean grains of Middle American origin ranged from intermediate (h2r=47%) to high (h2r=63.61%), and the predominance of additive genetic effects was reported in early generations (Jost et al, 2009b). These authors found an increase of 33.64% in calcium concentration in common bean grains. The performance of crosses and selection of recombinants are a promising strategy for the selection of common bean lines with high calcium concentration in grains
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