The white-seeded snap bean 'Early Wax' (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) was crossed with a black-seeded breeding line 5-593. The F2 segregation data are consistent with a three-gene model, in which all three genes must be homozygous recessive to give white seed coat. One of the genes is t because of segregation in F2 for plants with white flowers and partial seed coat coloration. We hypothesize that the genes ers and ers2 in the presence of t block all seed color expression in all genes for partial coloration of seed. The hypothesis of three recessive genes was confirmed in a backcross test involving 'Early Wax' xF1. The interaction of ers and ers2 was tested in progeny tests of partly colored BC-F1 plants. One of the erasure genes, ers2, blocks color expression in color zones close to the hilum, but only in the presence of ers. The other erasure gene, ers, blocks color expression only in color zones beyond those close to the hilum in a manner similar to the restr locus of Prakken (1972). The old hypothesis that partly colored seed phenotypes require the presence of a second factor e in addition to t, where the function of e is vague and unspecified, should be discarded for lack of supporting evidence. Under the new hypothesis, soldier series phenotypes (e.g., bipunctata, arcus, virgata, and virgarcus) may express in t ers Ers2 by action of ers or in t Ers Ers2 by action of various genes for partly colored seeds other than ers.
