T-type chloroplast DNA inSolarium tuberosum L. ssp.tuberosum was conferred from some populations ofS. tarijense Hawkes

The highly heterozygous and tetraploid nature of potato (Solanum tuberosum L. ssp.tuberosum) has hampered discovery of its wild ancestral species. Chloroplast DNA is a very reliable indicator to trace maternal ancestry of crops. Most of the common potato (grown worldwide) has unique, T-type chloroplast DNA derived from Chilean cultivated potato (both areS. tuberosum ssp.tuberosum). Analyzing seven different chloroplast DNA markers, I found all the T-type accessions of cultivated potatoes shared the same chloroplast DNA haplotype only with some accessions ofS. tarijense Hawkes and its derived hybrids. Thus, I conclude that some populations ofS. tarijense acted as the maternal ancestor of potato.     

Distribution of the 241 bp deletion of chloroplast DNA in wild potato species

The common potato (Solanum tuberosum L. ssp.tuberosum) has T-type chloroplast DNA characterized by a 241 bp deletion. To explore the maternal ancestry of the common potato, a total of 566 accessions of 35 wild species, collected mostly from central Bolivia to northern Argentina, were determined for presence or absence of the deletion by a simple PCR assay using primers flanking the deleted region of chloroplast DNA. Sixteen out of 80 accessions ofS. tarijense, S. berthaultii, andS. neorossii showed a shorter PCR amplified fragment. Sequencing of these fragments revealed that the same 241 bp was deleted at the same position in these accessions. This strongly suggests that the deletion event had occurred in wild species.     

Evolutionary pathway of T-type Chloroplast DNA in potato

Potato was domesticated in the Andes of South America. However, the presently worldwide-grown potato (Solanum tuberosum L. ssp.tuberosum, 2n=4x=48) has characteristic T-type chloroplast DNA that was introduced after late blight epidemics in the mid-19th century from the Chilean potato (2n=4x=48) grown in the southern coastal regions in Chile. Among many wild potato species, the same chloroplast DNA was found only in some populations of a diploid speciesS. tarijense Hawkes (2n=2x=24), which ranges from central Bolivia to northwest Argentina. To elucidate an evolutionary pathway of T-type chloroplast DNA fromS. tarijense to Chilean potato, 215 accessions ofS. stenotomum Juz. et Buk., considered to be the most primitive, diploid cultivated potato species, from which all the Andean cultivated species evolved, and 286 accessions of the most widely grown, Andean tetraploid cultivated speciesS. tuberosum L. ssp.andigena Hawkes (2n=4x=48) were examined in this study. No accession ofS. stenotomum had T-type chloroplast DNA, while nine accessions, mostly from northwest Argentina, ofS. tuberosum ssp.andigena had T-type chloroplast DNA. Therefore, I conclude that some populations ofS. tarijense having T-type chloroplast DNA were naturally crossed as female withS. tuberosum ssp.andigena from which the Chilean potato was selected.     

Genetic Resources (Including Wild and Cultivated Solanum Species) and Progress in their Utilisation in Potato Breeding

The genetic resources available for the improvement of the cultivated potato (Solanum tuberosum) are reviewed along with progress in their utilisation. The conclusions are as follows. The wild and cultivated species of potato have been utilised in potato breeding to good effect, but only a very small sample of the available biodiversity has been exploited. New knowledge and technology will open possibilities for much greater use of these genetic resources in breeding. The strategy for utilising the cultivars native to Latin America will either be the introgression of desirable genes or the direct use of parents from improved populations, depending on how far modern S. tuberosum cultivars have genetically diverged from them and the extent to which S. tuberosum cultivars have been improved in the process. Molecular marker-assisted selection will be used for faster introgression of desirable genes from wild species, and the possibility exists of moving genes directly from wild species to cultivated potato with transgenic methods. New cultivars will continue to come from crosses between pairs of parents with complementary features but adapted to local growing conditions. However, increasingly these parents will possess desirable genes which have been introgressed from wild species and may also be from complementary groups of cultivated germplasm to exploit hybrid vigour. Successful cultivars may be genetically modified, if consumers see benefits in the use of the technology, to introduce genes not present in cultivated potatoes and their wild relatives to achieve novel biochemistry and further desirable improvements.     

Screening for Chip-Processing Potato Line from Introgression of Wild Species’ Germplasms with Post-Harvest Storage and Chip Qualities

The processing of potatoes into chips is expanding in China. There is a need for new processing cultivars that are well-suited for the local ecological environment. Eleven potato varieties were bred from hybridization and backcrossing between the local cultivated potato varieties (Solanum tuberosum L.) and wild potato species. Lines from different wild species’ germplasms showed that the ability to accumulate reducing sugars was significantly different during low temperature storage (4 °C). A correlation analysis was conducted to determine the correlation coefficient among reducing sugars, acid invertase, free amino acids, chip colors and the content of acrylamide after storage at room and low temperatures. The lines 0706-116, 0737-6 and 0726-205 had low levels of reducing sugars, acrylamide content and acceptable chip colors for potato chip processing. The results indicated that the transfer of wild species’ processing traits into local cultivars by hybridization and continuous backcrossing is an effective potato breeding method and that the wild germplasm resources S. phureja and S. chacoense are suitable for improving the processing traits of local varieties.     

Tuber and starch quality of wild and cultivated potato species and cultivars

Summary Between 1993 and 1998 205 different potato cultivars and 1220 accessions/genotypes of wild and cultivated potato species from the IPK Genebank Gatersleben were evaluated. Parameters interesting for starch isolation and especially for the use of starch were determined. Altogether, there was a higher variability in wild potato species than in cultivated potatoes for all characteristics investigated: dry matter content, starch content, protein content, amylose content and mean particle diameter of starch granules.     

Symptoms induced by Andean potato latent virus in wild and cultivated potatoes

Summary The symptomatology of Andean potato latent virus (APLV) was studied in several wild potato species and potato cultivars using isolates Caj, Hu and Ay from Peru. In greenhouse tests, the virus was latent in most isolate/cultivar combinations with primary infection but secondary infection commonly caused symptoms. Wild species infected with the different isolates normally reacted with symptoms with either type of infection. The main symptoms were mosaics, chlorotic netting of minor leaf veins and, with wild species, leaf deformation; the netting symptom was typical only with Caj. In infected cultivars growing in the field, an additional symptom, rugosity, sometimes also developed and environmental conditions at high altitude seemed to enhance symptom formation. Very severe symptoms were found in a cultivar jointly infected with APLV and Andean potato mottle virus. Transmission of APLV from an infected plant to its tubers was erratic.     

Evaluation of tuber-bearingSolanum species for nitrogen use efficiency and biomass partitioning

Modern potato cultivars (Solanum tuberosum L.) require high rates of fertilizer nitrogen (N). This practice is costly and can pose a serious threat to surface and groundwater. Previous evaluation of wild potato germplasm demonstrated the existence of species capable of producing high total biomass under low N conditions, with the ability to make maximum use of added N. Therefore, a two-year field experiment was conducted in 1994 and 1995 to investigate the response of selected wild potato accessions and their hybrids with the haploid USW551 (USW) to low and high N environments. The haploid USW and cultivars Russet Burbank, Red Norland, and Russet Norkotah were also included in the study. Uniform propagules and seedlings from the variousSolanum species were transplanted to a Hubbard loamy sand (Udic Haploboroll) at Becker, Minn. and were subjected to two N treatments: 0 and 225 kg N ha^-1. At harvest, total dry biomass of wild and hybrid potato germplasm was equal to or higher than that of the cultivars. However, cultivar biomass partitioning was 1% to roots, 15% to shoots, 0% to fruits, and 84% to tubers, whereas wild potato species partitioned 18% to roots plus nontuberized stolons, 52% to shoots, 23% to fruits, and only 7% to tubers. Hybrids were intermediate, allocating 9% of their biomass to roots plus nontuberized stolons, 39% to shoots, 14% to fruits, and 38% to tubers. Nitrogen use efficiencies for many of the species and crosses were comparable to that for Russet Burbank and greater than those for Red Norland and Russet Norkotah. Of the wild species tested,S. chacoense accessions had the highest biomass accumulation and N uptake efficiencies and may be the best source of germplasm for improving NUE in a potato breeding program.     

Testing the resistance to silver scurf in commercial potato cultivars under controlled environmental conditions

Summary Optimum storage conditions to identify resistance to silver scurf among commercially grown potato cultivars were determined in a series of experiments. Inoculation of field-grown tubers with a conidial suspension ofH. solani (concentration 10⁴ conidia per ml of water) and incubation at 15°C with 95% RH for 1 month followed by 2 months at 85% RH produced the greatest differences in disease severity between potato cultivars. Results with glasshouse-grown tubers were comparable with those from field-grown tubers, indicating that the test could be used to identify resistance in wild species of potato and to understand the inheritance of this resistance.     

马铃薯晚疫病抗病基因研究进展

晚疫病是危害马铃薯生产的重要病害,可导致马铃薯的大量减产。多年来研究人员对马铃薯晚疫病进行了大量的研究,取得了一系列的成果。对马铃薯晚疫病防治最有效的方法是使用抗病品种,随着分子生物学技术的发展,从野生资源中分离抗病基因,并将其转入到栽培种马铃薯中可以获得抗病特性。到目前为止,已经有十多个抗晚疫病基因被发现和图谱,且部分基因已被转入到栽培品种中。本文从晚疫病抗病基因的发现、分离、定位及克隆等方面进行了综述。     

Species relationships between a wild tetraploid potato species,Solanum acaule bitter, and its related species as revealed by rflps of chloroplast and nuclear DNA

Solanum acaule Bitter is a wild, disomic tetraploid potato species widely distributed in the South America. In this study, species relationships between eight accessions ofS. acaule and 108 accessions of 27 morphologically closely related species were investigated using chloroplast and nuclear DNA RFLPs. Chloroplast DNA types were determined for most of the accessions based on restriction digestion patterns of entire chloroplast DNA. C type chloroplast DNA was common inS. acaule andS. albicans (a hexaploid derivative fromS. acaule), which was also found inS. megistacrolobum, S. sanctae-rosae,S. raphanifolium, and several other Peruvian species in seriesTuberosa. Nuclear DNA was analyzed by Southern hybridization with 31 single-copy RFLP probes. One hundred and thirty-four bands were scored, from which a UPGMA dendrogram was constructed to show overall similarities among accessions.Solanum acaule andS. albicans (andS. demissum) formed a cluster with a high similarity, and then, this group was clustered withS. megistacrolobum andS. sanctae-rosae. The resulting cluster was well separated from other clusters. Thus, we suggest that an initial tetrasomic tetraploid arose from eitherS. megistacrolobum orS. sanctae-rosae. Interestingly, a Mexican hexaploid speciesS. demissum showed the closest similarity toS. acaule andS. albicans, suggesting that they shared a common ancestry.     

Potato Breeding at the Scottish Plant Breeding Station and the Scottish Crop Research Institute: 1920–2008

Seventy-two potato cultivars have been bred at the Scottish Plant Breeding Station and the Scottish Crop Research Institute since 1920. The original genetic base contained resistance to wart disease and to viruses, but not comprehensive resistance to all strains. Introgression of resistance genes from the wild and cultivated potato species of Latin America started for late blight in 1932, for viruses in 1941 and for potato cyst nematodes in 1952. Just seven of the 219 wild tuber-bearing species recognized by Hawkes in 1990 feature in the pedigrees of our cultivars, with Solanum demissum for blight resistance in 58, S. vernei for nematode resistance in 19 and S. microdontum for Potato virus Y resistance in 15, the other four species being S. multidissectum, S. commersonii, S. maglia and S. acaule. Resistance to other fungal and bacterial diseases has been mainly due to chance rather than deliberate breeding. From 1970, selection for yield and quality included processing quality, and despite lack of commercial success, prospects remain good for cultivars resistant to sweetening during cold storage. Since 1990 prebreeding has combined desirable traits through efficient recurrent selection based on progeny testing and provided parents for the commercially funded breeding of finished cultivars. Only one cultivar is a Neotuberosum–Tuberosum hybrid, whereas 15 cultivars have the H1 gene for resistance to Globodera rostochiensis introgressed from group Andigena. Long-day Phureja cultivars are finding a market niche for their flavour attributes. Breeding strategies and methods are critically reviewed from a genetic viewpoint.     

Solanum peloquinianum: A new wild potato species from the Peruvian Andes

After having collected a vast amount of indigenous potato cultivars, The International Potato Center has recently intensified its explorations in the Andes of South America. The intent is to collect and utilize in its breeding programs the diversity of wild species that are found profusely distributed in the mountainous regions of South America. During the course of this work, several new species are being identified. Following we present a diploid species which is new to science.     

Serial microtuber formation as a long-term conservation method forin vitro potato germplasm

Microtubers were produced from single nodein vitro cuttings on 43 clonal potato cultivars and selections and two wild species. The microtuberforming cultures were exposed to three temperature regimes over a period of 21 months. At 10 C, cultures continued to produce microtubers after 21 months without subculture or supplementation of the media. Cultures of these single node axillary buds produced an average of 3.3 microtubers each after 21 months. This technique should be very useful in long-term storage of potato germplasm.     

江淮流域杂草稻叶绿体DNA的籼粳分化

 为了探明江淮流域杂草稻的细胞质来源,根据水稻叶绿体DNA ORF100（Open Reading Frame 100）序列在籼粳间存在69 bp差异的特征,设计了InDel标记cpDNA69。利用该标记对2个分别以籼稻和粳稻为母本的F2群体、22份栽培稻（Oryza sativa L.）、3份普通野生稻（O. rufipogon Griff.）进行了分析验证。PCR结果可以获得缺失和非缺失两种带型,缺失带型与以籼稻为母本的F2群体、10份籼稻材料完全对应;非缺失带型与以粳稻为母本的F2群体、11份粳稻材料完全对应,3份广西普通野生稻为非缺失带型,属粳型,1份以粳稻为母本的籼粳杂交材料为粳型。因此,cpDNA69可以用作叶绿体籼粳鉴定标记。利用该标记对22份杂草稻的叶绿体DNA鉴定的结果表明,7份早年发现的杂草稻,即江苏省连云港穭稻和安徽省怀远、来安、全椒、肥东的塘稻的叶绿体DNA为非缺失带型,属粳型,而近年来在江苏省扬中、高邮、灌云、洪泽、盐都、兴化、如皋等地直播稻田发现的15份红米杂草稻的叶绿体DNA为缺失带型,属籼型。这为进一步研究江淮流域杂草稻的来源提供了依据。     

马铃薯国外引种的探讨和建议

自1934年以来,我国共引进国外马铃薯普通栽培品种(系)1 315份,90余个杂交组合的实生种子100余万粒,野生种和原始栽培种共13个种的无性系110份,这些种质资源中许多已被直接或间接用于生产或育种。其中,通过多年多点鉴定直接用于生产的品种32个,从引进的杂交实生种子经系统选育推广的品种10余个,直接用于马铃薯有性杂交的国外资源占亲本总数的90%以上,诸多国外品种已成为我国高产、优质和多抗育种的骨干亲本。因此,加强国外马铃薯资源的引进、评价和利用,对于丰富我国马铃薯种质资源遗传基础意义重大,也是应对生物资源国际竞争日益激烈的战略决策。本文在总结我国马铃薯国外引种成就基础上,根据马铃薯国外引种出现的新情况,提出今后强化引种的建议。     

Potato viruses in China

Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is globally the fourth largest staple crop after rice, wheat and maize. China is the largest potato producer worldwide, accounting for 26.3% and 22.2% of the global total area and yield, respectively. Viral diseases have been a limiting factor for sustainable production of potato in China. This article provides update and comprehensive information on the most important viruses, their effect on yield and their control in China. Meristem culture is currently the most widely used technique for production of virus-free potato plants and these plants are used as nuclear stock for the production of certified seed tubers. Although a significant increase in tuber yield has been achieved using certified seed potatoes, lack of application of a national seed potato production scheme has hindered progress. Conventional breeding using virus-resistant cultivars introduced from other countries as parents has already led to the production of Chinese cultivars. Use of virus-resistant wild Solanum species and genetic transformation techniques will provide new virus-resistant varieties in the future to further enhance control of potato viruses in China.     

中国栽培稻及其近缘野生种叶绿体DNA的限制性片段长度多态性分析

 对中国现存的七省（区）的17份中国普通野生稻（其中广西普通野生稻6份，东乡野生稻5份，广东、湖南各2份，福建及云南景洪普通野生稻各1份）及28份栽培稻地方品种的叶绿体DNA进行了限制性内切酶酶切分析。28份中国栽培稻被分成三类，C1、C2和C3。其中C2叶绿体基因组类型仅有1份材料，为一个籼稻品种。两个主要类型C1和C3分别对应于粳型和籼型，说明中国栽培稻在叶绿体基因组存在籼、粳分化。17份中国普通野生稻的叶绿体DNA用同样3种内切酶酶切，共产生两种类型。它们分别与栽培稻中的C1和C3相同，其中C1类型占主要，为94.1％（16／17），具C3型叶绿体基因组的野生稻为１份广西材料。此外没有检测到新的类型。这说明在中国普通野生稻中也存在对应于栽培稻籼型和粳型两种不同的叶绿体基因组类型，而且是以对应于粳型的C1型叶绿体基因组类型材料为主。从大多数中国普通野生稻具有与粳型栽培稻相同的叶绿体基因组类型，可以推测粳稻起源于中国的可能性很大。     

Resistance to <Emphasis Type="Italic">Meloidogyne chitwoodi</Emphasis> Identified in Wild Potato Species

Meloidogyne chitwoodi (Columbia root-knot nematode, CRKN) can cause serious damage in potato production systems, decreasing tuber value in the fresh market and processing industries. Genetic resistance to CRKN was first identified from the wild diploid potato species Solanum bulbocastanum accession SB22 and was successfully introgressed into tetraploid potato breeding material. To expand the base of genetic resistance, 40 plant accessions representing nine wild potato species were screened for their resistance to M. chitwoodi. Greenhouse screening identified fifteen clones from S. hougasii, one clone from S. bulbocastanum, and one clone from S. stenophyllidium with moderate to high levels of resistance against three isolates of M. chitwoodi. Geographical mapping showed that the resistance sources identified in this and previous studies primarily originated in the states of Jalisco and Michoacán in west-central Mexico. These new sources of resistance will be introgressed into elite potato populations to facilitate the development of potato cultivars with durable resistance to M. chitwoodi.