Maternal effect in sulfur amino acids content expression in common bean grains/Efeito materno na expressao dos teores de aminoacidos sulfurados em graos de feijao

The genetic of the sulfur amino acids content has not been sufficiently evaluated in common bean. The objective of this research was to investigate the existence of maternal effect in sulfur amino acids content (methionine and cystein) of common bean grains. The controlled crossings were performed among the cultivars 'BRS Valente' x 'IAPAR 44' and 'TPS Nobre' x 'Minuano'. The [F.sub.1], [F.sub.1] reciprocal, [F.sub.2] and [F.sub.2] reciprocal generations were obtained for each hybrid combination. The amino acid content was determined by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC-UV). The methione content varied from 0.79g for 16g N MS ('BRS Valente') to 1.09g for 16g N MS (F2 generation) and the cystein content varied from 0.76g for 16g N MS ([F.sub.2] generation) to 1.43g for 16g N MS ('Minuano'). Genetic variability was observed between the parents, but was there was no maternal effect in the methione and cystein content. The selection for higher sulfur amino acids content can be performed in [F.sub.2] seeds, because the generation of the embryo is [F.sub.2].