Common bean In common bean radiation-induced early bush type mutants of the cultivar ‘Michelite’ and ‘NEP-2’ (white-seed coat mutant) and their derivatives were widely used in the pedigrees of many white-seeded bean cultivars in North America. During the 1970 and 1980’s most of the white-seeded bean cultivation area in Michigan was covered by bush mutant derivatives.
Currently, 40% of the 300,00 acres of white beans in Michigan are under cultivars derived from Michelite and NEP-2 (Nichterlein,1999).