Inheritance of protein content in long bean (Vigna sesquipedalis Fruw.)

The components of gene effects for protein content were studied following a six parameter model of Hayman and three parameter model of Jinks and Jones , using the means of the six basic populations (P-1, P-2, F-1, F-2, BC1P1 a nd BC1P2) from four crosses derived from four diverse genotypes of long bea n. The scaling tests indicated the presence of non-allelic interactions for pod protein and seed protein in two crosses. Additive effects are more imp ortant than dominance effects for pod protein. The interaction effects cont ributed more than the main genetic component for seed protein. Among the di genic epistatic interactions, dominance x dominance (1) contributed the mos t followed by additive x additive (i) and additive x dominance (h) effects. Pedigree, bulk or single seed descent methods are suggested for developing elite populations. Duplicate epistasis was noticed for the two interacting crosses.