Direct selection and indirect selection are not efficient in the simultaneous selection of agronomic traits and nutritional quality in common bean. The classical, base and multiplicative indexes provide responses of gain balanced among traits and superior genetic progress in the selection of inbred common bean lines, and have a high coincidence between the lines selected.

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-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

Seed coat colour of bean seeds is decisive for acceptance of a cultivar. The objectives of this research were to determine whether there is maternal effect for "L", a* and b* colour parameters in Middle American and Andean bean seeds; to obtain estimates of heritability and gain with selection for "L", a* and b* values; and select recombinants with the seed coat colour required by the market demand. Thus, controlled crossings were carried out between the Middle American lines CNFP 10104 and CHC 01-175, and between the Andean lines Cal 96 and Hooter, for obtaining F1, F1 reciprocal, F2 and F2 reciprocal generations for each hybrid combination. Parents and generations were evaluated in two field experiments (2012 normal rainy and 2013 dry seasons) in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Seed coat colour was quantified with a portable colorimeter. Genetic variability for "L" (luminosity), chromaticity a* (green to red shade), and chromaticity b* (blue to yellow shade) values was observed in seeds with F2 seed coat of Middle American and Andean beans. "L", a* and b* values in bean seeds presented maternal effects. High broad-sense heritability are observed for luminosity (h(2)b: 76.66-95.07%), chromaticity a* (h(2)b: 73.08-89.31%), and chromaticity b* (h(2)b: 88.63-92.50%) values in bean seeds. From the crossings, it was possible to select bean seeds in early generation for the black group, and for carioca and cranberry types (dark or clear background) which present the colour required by the market demand.

A large proportion of the world's population is at risk of developing symptoms of zinc deficiency due to its low levels in food. The objective of this research was to estimate the heritability in early hybrid generations for the zinc content character in seeds of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), to investigate possible maternal effects on zinc contents and to evaluate the potential for genetic improvement. Reciprocal F 1 , and F 2 generations as well as backcross (RCP 1 and RCP 2 ) populations were produced by crosses of three cultivars. The seed zinc content was measured by the nitric-perchloric digestion method and using the atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The range of variation in zinc content among tested progenies was from 21.76 mg kg -1 dry matter to 53.48 mg kg -1 dry matter, and no significant maternal effect was discovered. Narrow sense heritability was of an intermediate 57.5% to high 77.84% value and transgressive segregation was observed. These results suggest that breeding for increased zinc content in the seeds of common bean can be quite successful; an increase of 37.3% was obtained using just the three parents tested in this study.