Heritability of the resistance to potato leafhopper in dry bean

Abstract

The potato leafhopper (PLH), Empoasca fabae Harris is the most important Empoasca species attacking dry beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) in North America. The objective of this study was to determine the heritability (h2) of PLH injury based on parent-offspring regression analysis of F3 means on individual F, plants derived from crosses of pinto 'Sierra' (resistant) x great northern 'Starlight' (susceptible), and black bean 'Tacarigua' (resistant) x 'Starlight' (susceptible). Low narrow-sense heritability values of 0.29 ± 0.06 and 0.28 ± 0.10, respectively, were obtained for the above crosses. The low narrow-sense heritability estimates indicated large environmental effects on the expression of PLH injury in dry beans. An allelic test showed that both resistant parents possessed the same genes for resistance.