Jacob’s Cattle
Also called Trout bean, Coach Dog bean, Dalmatian bean, and Torellen (German).

The plant is about 13 inches tall and pods are 6.2 inches long.
The bean is about 0.66 inches long and 0.36 inches wide, with a plump kidney shape and has
molted maroon and white color markings, like Guernsey cows.
After cooking, the patterns fade but are still distinct.

Jacob’s Cattle is a bush bean that can be harvested after 80-100 days.

Jacob’s Cattle Beans are heirloom beans related to the Kidney Bean. This means that the beans were handed down within a small community for several generations.
They date back to the 1 700s.
There are different stories regarding their origin. One legend is that they were originally cultivated by the Passamaquoddy Indians in Maine.
According to another story they were brought to the United States by German settlers in the early days of the colonies. New Englanders named the bean from the Bible story of Jacob and the spotted cattle.

Genesis 30:25 — 43:
v. 25 - After Rachel gave birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, ‘Send me on my way so I can go back to my own homeland.
v. 31 - ‘What shall I give you?’ he asked. ‘Don’t give me anything,’ Jacob replied. ‘But if you will do this one thing for me, I will go on tending your flocks and watching over them:
v. 32 - Let me go through all your flocks today and remove from them every speckled or spotted sheep, every dark-colored Iamb and every spotted or speckled goat. They will be my wages. v. 33 - And my honesty will testify for me in the future, whenever you check on the wages you have paid me. Any goat in my possession that is not speckled or spotted, or any lamb that is not dark-colored, will be considered stolen.’
v. 37 - Jacob, however, took fresh-cut branches from poplar, almond and plane trees and made white stripes on them by peeling the bark and exposing the white inner wood of the branches. v. 38 - Then he placed the peeled branches in all the watering troughs, so that they would be directly in front of the flocks when they came to drink. When the flocks were in heat and came to drink,
v. 39 - they mated in front of the branches. And they bore young that were streaked or speckled or spotted.
Genesis 33:17 - But Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built himself a house, and made booths for his cattle; therefore the name of the place is called Succoth.
Genesis 46:6 - They also took their cattle and their goods, which they had gained in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob and all his offspring with him.

“B VITAMINS: Beans have B VITAMINS; folic acid, niacin, pyridoxine and thiamine. CANCER: Beans protect the digestive tract from cancer because bean fibers absorb and dilutes toxic waste, and moves digested meat and fat through the digestive system. CHOLESTEROL: Beans have no cholesterol.
CLOTTING: Beans are a source of vitamin K, which controls normal blood clotting. COMPLEX CARBOHYDRATES: Beans are an excellent source of complex carbohydrates.
CONSTIPATION: Beans reduce constipation by softening stools with moist fiber. Beans are more nutritious, cheaper, and better tasting than any laxative.
DIET: Beans make two to four times the weight and volume of comparable foods, and take longer to digest. This helps you loose weight by filling you up and keeping you full for a longer time so you eat less. Soluble fiber absorbs cholesterol. Insoluble fiber moves fat and digested meat out of the intestines. Beans reduce the amount of insulin released, so the body stores less fat. DIGESTION SYSTEM: Beans are good for the entire digestive system and protects it from many types of CANCER.
FAT: Beans are low (1% to 2%) in polyunsaturated fat and are cholesterol-free. FIBER:
Beans have both INSOLUBLE and SOLUBLE FIBERS. The soluble fiber absorbs cholesterol, triglycerides (oat bran does not) and toxins. Insoluble fiber moves fat blobs and digested meat through the intestines. Fibers also reduce APPENDICITIS, CONSTIPATION, DIVERTICULITIS, DIVERTICULOSIS, AND HEMORRHOIDS.
IRON: Beans are a good source of iron. After beans are cooked; add vitamin C in the form of tomatos or citrus juice; so your body will absorb the iron. MINERALS: Beans are a good source of calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus and potassium. Beans also contain boron, copper, iodine, manganese, and zinc. Beans are naturally low in sodium and are high in potassium. Good for fighting HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE and preventing a HEART ATTACK.” 1

It is a shelling bean. It has an earthy flavor with a slight sweetness and meaty texture.
Rinse beans and drain. Traditionally, they are soaked overnight and then cooked.
However you can bring the water to a boil, drop legumes into pot slowly so boiling doesn’t stop.
Lower heat, cover and simmer till they are soft. This method saves % to 1 hour cooking time.

Jacob’s Cattle beans (plain or vegetarian, canned), 1 cup
Calories: 236
Protein: 12.2g
Carbohydrate: 52g
Total Fat: 1.lg
Fiber: 12.7g
*ExceIlent source of: Magnesium (81.3mg), and Potassium (751mg)
*Good source of: Calcium (1 27mg), and Vitamin C (7.8mg)
*Foods that are an “excellent source” of a particular nutrient provide 20% or more of the Recommended Daily Value, based upon United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) guidelines.
*Foods that are a “good source” of a particular nutrient provide between 10 and 20% of the USDA Recommended Daily Value.

Soak beans overnight and cook them as mentioned before.
A flavorful salad is made by simply tossing the cooked beans with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and fresh herbs.
Delicious served in stews, casseroles and soups.

Claudia Ernst

The intention of this paper is to better understand the seed coat color and pattern in the Common Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.)in general and in the Jacob’s Cattle Bean in particular. Furthermore the possibility of a relationship between the development of the seed coat and the development of the bean is examined.

The genetics of seed coat color and pattern in Common bean
Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L) exhibits a wide variety of seed coat colors and patterns. Extensive analyses have identified specific genes that control seed coat color and pattern. Many of these genes exhibit epistatic interactions with other genes which define the many seed coat colors and patterns observed within the species. (1)

The color of the common bean seed coat is controlled by a group of genes that appear to regulate the flavonol and anthocyanin biosynthetic pathways. Color expression in both the seed coat or flower is completely dependent on the multiple alleles at the P locus (Emerson 1909). The dominant allele at P potentiates color in the seed coat and flower. In P_ individuals, a multiallelic, dominance series at V controls flower color: V_ (purple) > i_(pink) > w (white) (Lamprecht 1935). In addition, the seed coats of V_ genotypes contain anthocyanin pigments, whereas the seed coats of w genotypes contain flavonol pigments (Beninger et al.1999, 2000). Alleles at seven other genes - Gy, C, R, J, G, B, and Rk - interact with V and among each other to determine the many color hues found in the common bean seed coat (Prakken 1972; Bassett et al. 2001). (1)

The pattern of the common bean seed coat is controlled by the action of two independent genes, C and T. As with all of these genes, each requires a dominant P allele for phenotypic expression. C is a complex locus consisting of many closely linked genes responsible for a variety of patterns including striping, speckling, and mottling (Prakken 1974). These patterns are distinguished by a light background color overlain with a darker pattern color determined by the genotype of the color genes just described. Tightly linked with the C locus complex is R, a gene responsible for some of the red seed coat colors (Prakken 1974).) Commmon bean seed coats can also be partly colored, in which a white background is overlain by a colored pattern. The hue of the pattern is determined by the genotype at the color genes just described. (1)
Partly colored seed coat patterns require the homozygous (=possessing two identical forms of a particular gene, one inherited from each parent) recessive ft genotype at the T locus (Emerson 1909) which enables the various genes controlling specific patterns of partly colored seed to express, whereas T- gives self-colored seed. (T originally stood for Totally colored seed, today these seeds are referred to as self-colored describing a seed without partly colored pattern.) With if different color patterns are possible, where part of the seed has a nonwhite color and the remainder of the seed coat is pure white. (2)
The tit genotype also leads to white flowers but it is epistatic to the V gene for purple flowers ([merson 1909).
Four additional genes control the size and shape of the colored seed coat pattern: zonal (Z), bipunctata (Bip), limiter (L), and J. A third allele at T, viz., t,permits the expression of partly colored seed coats without changing the flower color to white (Bassett and McClean 2000).
Depending on the genotype within the series, the many partly colored seed coat phenotypes can range from the nearly completely colored expansa, to the partially colored virgarcus, to the slightly colored bipunctata, to completely white. (3)

Description of the genotypes controlling partly colored seed coat phenotypes (see Table I and
Illustration 1):
The restriction of colored area patterns due to fif is not as severe as with t/t (Bassett,
unpublished data): f1 z P produces patterns ranging from self-colored to one similar to expansa
(Fig.1 without the fibula arcs), whereas t z P produces the more restricted virgarcus pattern
(Fig .4).
Similarly, f z P and another unidentified gene produce the two points pattern (Fig.2) (Bassett, unpublished data), whereas t z i produces a white seed.
A newly discovered dominant acting gene, Fibula arcs (Fib), also affects patterning. With genotype t Z Bip J P Fib the seed coat has the expansa with fibula arcs pattern (Fig.1), where Fib expresses the fibula arcs pattern and restricts slightly more the expansa pattern (Bassett, unpublished data).
The Z locus (von Tschermak 1912) controls several seed coat patterns: virgarcus (t z Bip J P) (Fig.4), piebald (t z/z Bip J P) (Fig.5), and sellatus (t z Bip J P) (Fig.6). The genotype t Z!z Bip J P has the highly variable seed coat pattern ambigua (Fig.3) (Schreiber
1940).
The genotype t z bip JP causes the bipunctata pattern (Fig.9) (Lamprecht 1940; Schreiber 1940 Bassett 1996).
A third allele at Bip, viz., bip, controls the Anasazi seed coat pattern (Fig.7) with genotype t Z bipa J P (Bassett and McClean2000).
The genotype t z bip(ana) J P produces the Anabip pattern (Fig.8), which is nearly as restricted as bipunctata (Fig.9) (Bassett and McClean 2000). (3)

The genes that regulate seed coat color and pattern in Jacob’s Cattle (JC)
Just as common bean, JC has the genotype It for partly colored seed coats, i.e. part of the seed coat is colored and the remainder is white. JC does not carry any of the other standard recessive alleles at genes such as Z and Bip, which restrict patterns of partly colored seed coats when t is present. Its seed coat pattern could be regulated by genotypes similar to those described above which refer to the phenotypes in bold (Fig.1, Fig.3, Fig.5, Fig.7).
The seed coat color of JC is controlled mostly at the complex C locus where the gene F? expresses the dark (slightly bluish) red color observed when the modifying genes b and v are present.
The (pale) pink flower of JC is due to the e allele at V.
JC also carries the J gene for full color development and the Asp gene for shiny seed coats. The expression of the fine dots observed with JC does not ordinarily accompany the genotype t Z Bip, but no one has pursued this line of research with JC.
The difficulty of this type of seed coat research is that the variabilty of expression is great from seed to seed on the same plant. E.g. there are so many variations in the percentage of the red and the white color in every bean. This makes conventional Mendelian genetic analysis rather challenging.

Relationship between the development of the seed coat and the development of the bean Unfortunately, the developmental biology of the expression of fine dots on bean seed coats has not been pursued by anyone to my knowledge. Yet it is presumed that the seed coat development is regulated independently from regulation of the rest of the seed, i.e. there is no direct relation between the development of the seed coat color and pattern and the development of the bean.

Relevant Genes - Excerpt from the “List of Genes - Phaseolus vulgaris L.”
asp asper (Latin): very dull (nonshiny) seed coat that is slightly rough textured due to the
pyramidal shape of the outer epidermal palisade cells (Lamprecht 1 940c);
Asp produces shiny seed coat (see above).
B as used by Lamprecht (1932a, 1939, 1951a). With P gives a seed coat that is whitish with a pale lilac tinge, his Veilchenartig Weiss, with a yellowish brown hilum
ring; descriped by Smith (1961) as gray-white. With other color factors it changes chamois to bronze (1932a). According to Prakken (1934, 1940-41) B with the basic color factors produces a gray-greenish-brown seed coat without a hilum ring, an changes yellow-brown to mineral-brown. Its use with suitable genes as a
bluing factor (Lamprecht 1932a; Prakken 1934; Sirks 1922; Tjebbes and Koolman 1922b)
appears to be similar to its original concept; this effect is regarded by Smith (1939) to be due to a distinct gene, 81.
Bip bipunctata (Latin): Bip and bip combine with Arc and arc to form seed coat patterns based on the hilum; extends seed coat color in partly colored seeds (Lamprecht 1932d, 1940b)
C with P, sulfur-white or primrose yellow tests; no color in the hilum ring (Lamprecht 1932a, 1939, 1951b; Tjebbes and Kooiman 1922b).
fC RJ (Rwith P produces a red seed coat (Emerson 1 909b; Lamprecht 1 935a; Tjebbes and Kooiman 1921) that has been variously described as light vinaceous (Tjebbes and Kooiman 1921), light purple vinaceous (Lamprecht 1947a), and deep oxblood red (Smith 1939), the differences possibly due to modifying genes. The flowers
are red (Tjebbes and Kooiman 1922b). It does not affect the color of the hilum ring (Lamprecht 1939). R, R, R1, R, and r are allelic, according to Lamprecht (1947a); but Prakken (1977b) has shown that Cs patterns can exist without the R locus red color. Therefore, the striping, marbling and other
patterns are more correctly designated as properties of the C locus, and the bracket notation, [C R], is used to indicate two genes with nearly unbreakable
linkage (Bassettl 991 b).
& with P grayish white (Speckweiss) testa; changes chamois to yellow-brown (bister); gives
its color in various combintalons to the hilum ring (Lamprecht 1932a,
1933, 1936, 1939; Sirks 1922). Used similarly by Prakken (1934, 1940-41) except that he
believes it gives color to the caruncula stripe instead of the hilum ring.T self-colored
seed coat and colored flowers (Emerson 1909a; Lamprecht 1934b; Shaw and Norton
1918)
J Joker: with P gives light yellow-brown or pale ochraceous buff tests (Lamprecht 1933), Rohseidengelb testa (Lamprecht 1939), raw silk testa (Lamprecht 1932a, 1961a) and the same color to the hilum ring (Lamprecht 1951a; Prakken 1934).Similar in effect to ins (Lamprecht 1936) and Asp (Lamprecht 1940c). It causes
seed coat to glisten and to darken with age (Lamprecht 1939);] produces dull (mat) seed coat (Prakkeril94o-41).
L Loeschungsfaktor (German); inhibits (or limits) the partial coloring of the testa; with t producing an entirely white testa (Schreiber 1934). L and I combine with Z
and z to produce several color patterns (Schreiber 1940).
P basic color gene (Emerson 1909a, North and Squibbs 1952; Prakken 1934; Schreiber 1934;Shaw and Norton 1918; Shull 1908; Skoog 1952). Pwithout color
genes is colorless as isp (Lamprecht 1939; Smith 1939).
Rk red kidney with P J pinkish buff seed coat (Gloyer 1928; Smith 1939); with J (Sh) chamois or cream testa (Smith and Madsen 1948). (4)
t (z-l) a seed coat pattern gene, required for all partly colored seed coat patterns, gives white
flowers (Schreiber 1934; Shaw and Norton 1918); functions with Z and z
(Lamprecht 1934b; Sax 1923; Shaw and Norton 1918); functions with Z and L (Schreiber
1940)
V (B!) with P produces pale glaucescens testa without a hilum ring (lamprecht 1939). The color ranges from pale violet to black depending upon other color genes
present (Lamprecht 1 932a; Prakken 1934).
ae with T P gives laeiia (pink) flowers and rose stem (Lamprecht 1 935e)
Z zonal seed coat patterns: affects the size of eye pattern on seed coat (Smith 1939; Tschermak 1912); enters into sellatus and piebald patterns (Lamprecht
I 934b); with L and t accounts for seven seed coat patterns (Schreiber 1940)

References
1. “Molecular and Phenotypic Mapping of Genes Controlling Seed Coat Pattern and Color in Common Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.)”, P. E. McClean, R. K. Lee, C. Otto, P.
Gepts, and M. J. Bassett
2. “Inheritance of the Anasazi pattern of partly colored seed coats in common bean”, M. J. Bassett, K. Hartel and P. E. McClean
3. “A Bñef Review of the Genetics of Partly Colored Seed Coats in Common Bean”, M. J. Bassett and P. E. McClean
4”List of Genes - Phaseolus vulgaris L.”, S. H. Yarnell in 1965, published in the BIC (Bean Improvement Cooperative) in 1965, updated by M. H. Dickson and published in
the BIC in 1982, updated by M. J. Bassett in 1989 and in 1993 and published in the BIG

Table 1 Names and genotypes of partly colored seed coat patterns and RAPD markers for three of the four principal genes involved in pattern expression..