Solanum sect. petota in Guatemala; Taxonomy and genetic resources

There are five wild potato species in Guatemala:Solanum agrimonifolium,S. bulbocastanum,S. clarum,S. demissum, andS. morelliforme. We conducted a collecting expedition there from September 11 to November 5, 1995. The goals of the expedition were to gather field data for taxonomic studies of the five species of Guatemalan wild potatoes and to collect potato germplasm. Our 43 true seed collections nearly quadruple the available wild potato germplasm for Guatemala, provide germplasm from most previously known localities, and add new ones. We provide a systematic treatment of Guatemalan wild potatoes, geographic and logistical data for collecting wild potatoes in Guatemala, statistics on human population growth and deforestation to help explain decline of wild potato populations, recommend areas for future collecting, and suggest two areas as in-situ reserves for wild potatoes     

Solanum serratoris: a new wild ecuadorian potato species

A new wild Ecuadorian tuber-bearing species ofSolanum,S. serratoris (SeriesTuberosa, Sect.Petota is described and illustrated. This species from the eastern-Andean region of provincia Morona-Pastaza has been named in honor of Dr. Richard L. Sawyer, founder of the International Potato Center, Lima, Peru.     

Solanum burtonii,a new wild potato species from Ecuador

Before 1960 knowledge of the wild potato species from Ecuador was very limited. We knew only three tuber bearing species:Solanum paucijugum Bitt.,S. pichinchense Bitt. et Sodiro andS. solisii Hawkes. However, during the last two decades information has increased greatly with the researches of Donovan S. Correll and the writer. So, to the aforementioned species we must addS. albornozii, S. cyanophyllum, S. regularifolium, S. suffrutescens andS. minutifoliolum found by Correll;S. calacalinum, S. correlli andS. tundalomense discovered by me. With this opportunity, I present another new wild potato species from Ecuador,Solarium burtonii, named in honor of Prof. Dr. W. Glynn Burton as a recognition to his outstanding contributions in the field of potato physiology.     

Wild potato collecting expedition in Southern Peru (Departments of Apurímac, Arequipa, Cusco, Moquegua Puno, Tacna in 1998: Taxonomy and new genetic resources

Peru has 103 taxa of wild potatoes (species, subspecies, varieties, and forms) according to Hawkes (1990; modified by us by a reduction of species in theSolanum brevicaule complex) and including taxa described by C. Ochoa since 1989. Sixty-nine of these 103 taxa (67% ) were unavailable from any of the world’s genebanks and 85 of them (83%) had less than three germplasm accessions. We conducted a collaborative Peru (INIA), United States (NRSP-6), and International Potato Center (CIP) wild potato (Solanum sect.Petota) collecting expedition in Peru to collect germplasm and gather taxonomic data. This is the first of a series of planned expeditions from 1998–2002. We collected from February 18 to April 18, 1998, in the southern departments of Apurímac, Arequipa, Cusco, Moquegua, Puno, and Tacna. We made 57 germplasm collections, including 14 taxa that are the first available as germplasm for any country (Solanum aymaraesense, S. chillonanum, S. incasicum, S. megistacrolobum subsp.megistacrolobum f. purpureum, S. longiusculus, S. multiflorum,S. pillahuatense, S. sawyeri, S. sandemanii, S. tacnaense, S. tarapatanum, S. urubambae, S. velardei, S. villuspetalum), and two additional taxa that are the first available for Peru but with germplasm from Bolivia (S. megistacrolobum subsp.toralapanum, S. yungasense). Collections also were made for the rare taxaS. acroscopicum, S. buesii, S. limbaniense, andS. santolallae. Our collections suggest the following minimum synonymy may be needed for Peruvian potatoes:S. sawyeri as a synonym ofS. tuberosum;S. hawkesii andS. incasicum as synonyms ofS. raphanifolium;S. multiflorum andS. villuspetalum as synonyms ofS. urubambae.     

The Effect of Photoperiod on Tuberisation in Cultivated × Wild Potato Species Hybrids

Wild Solanum species offer a valuable source of genetic diversity for potato improvement. Most of these species are found in equatorial South and Central America and they do not tuberise under long-day photoperiods typical of those in the major potato production areas of North America, Europe and Asia. Crosses between two haploids of Solanum tuberosum Chilotanum Group as females and two wild Solanum species clones generated four hybrid families. The parents and progeny were subjected to two greenhouse trials to evaluate tuberisation at 20-, 14-, and 8-h photoperiods. Parents and offspring tuberised most readily at the 8-h photoperiod, and poorly or not at all at the 20-h photoperiod. Segregation for tuberisation in hybrids was apparent at the 14-h photoperiod and depended on the cultivated parent, but not the wild species parent. The data support previous studies and best fit a model in which tuber production under long photoperiods is controlled by two dominant genes in cultivated × wild species hybrids.     

Mexico, 1988 potato germplasm collecting expedition and utility of the Mexican potato species

A joint Danish, Mexican, United States wild potato (Solanum sect.Petota) germplasm collecting expedition was conducted in Mexico between Aug. 21-Oct. 20, 1988. The trip resulted in 93 seed and 25 tuber collections of 18 species and one putative natural hybrid,S. xmichoacanum. Rare species collected include:Solanum darum,S. hintonii,S. lesteri, andS. xmichoacanum. First germplasm collections were made of the disjunct populations ofS. fendleri from Baja California. The potential and realized breeding value of these species is discussed.     

Solarium SectionPetota in Costa Rica: Taxonomy and genetic resources

Prior to 1996, worldwide holdings of germplasm of wild potatoes from Costa Rica amounted to just two collections; this country therefore formed a priority for collecting. We mapped all localities of wild potatoes from herbarium specimen data from Costa Rica and collected throughout the country. We made 13 collections, 10 of these with botanical seeds. These collections considerably extend the numbers of accessions and geographic range of the germplasm available from Costa Rica. The taxonomic identity of the species of wild potatoes (Solanum sect. Petota) in Costa Rica was previously unresolved. Our fieldwork supports the concept that Costa Rican wild potatoes belong to a single species,S. longiconicum.     

Solanum sawyeri,a new wild potato species from the Peruvian tropics

During my ongoing study of the systematics of the Peruvian wild tuberbearing Solanums I have reviewed some rare and interesting collections made in the past which previously had seemed very difficult to classify correctly. After reviewing and comparing some of these specimens with other collections gathered in the main herbaria of U.S.A. and Europe, I am convinced of the existence of some still undescribed species such as the one I am presenting here under the name ofSolanum sawyeri in honor of Dr. Richard Leander Sawyer, promoter and founder of The International Potato Center located at Lima, Peru. Solanum sawyeri, is acclimated to the warm humid tropics of Southern Peru. It grows in forests of the low land regions of the Eastern province of Urubamba in the Department of Cusco and thereafter might serve as a source of breeding material for those who want to select potato cultivars for the low land tropics. This species belongs to the series Tuberosa with 2n = 2× = 24 chromosomes.     

Identification of stem soft rot (Erwinia carotovora subspeciesatroseptica) resistance in potato

Development of potato cultivars resistant to Erwinia species (Erwinia carotovora subspeciesatroseptica, E. carotovora subspeciescarotovora, andErwinia chrysanthemi) causing soft rot of stems and tubers involves identification and transfer of the resistance to breeding lines possessing desirable agronomic traits. In total, 363 accessions of six wildSolanum species, three somatic hybrids and nine sexual progeny of somatic hybrids were screened for stem soft rot resistance. Thirty-one, 50, and 67 percent of accessions ofSolanum boliviense, Solanum chacoense, and Solanumsanctarosae, respectively, were resistant or highly resistant, whereas, 100, 97, and 95 percent of accessions ofSolanum canasense, Solanum tarijense, andSolanum spegazzinii were susceptible or highly susceptible, respectively. Two tuber soft-rot resistant somatic hybrids, A937 and T355-11 produced earlier by the fusion ofSolanum brevidens (PI 218228) andSolanum tuberosum (PI203900) orS. tuberosum cv. Russet Burbank, respectively, and the sexual progeny of A937 andS. tuberosum cv. Katahdin were also highly resistant. Transfer of resistance fromS. brevidens to somatic hybrid (A937) and subsequently to the progeny suggests that the resistance is simply inherited. In addition to the identification of 65 resistant or highly resistant clones of wildSolanum species, this study has identified three tuber soft rot-resistant clones that are also resistant to stem soft rot. Potato cultivars showed a range of responses to the pathogen.     

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.     

Evaluation of several wild tuber-bearingSolanum species for scab resistance

One hundred accessions of 18 wild diploid potato species were screened for resistance to scab through three cycles of selection, from which a total of 322 clones were selected as resistant. The putative ancestral species of the cultivated potatoes (Solanum bukasovii, S. canasense andS. multidissectum) produced resistant clones with significantly higher rates. Thus, these are primary gene sources for conferring scab resistance to cultivated potatoes.     

Potato genetic resources: Sources of resistance and systematics

The major potato of commerce,Solanum tuberosum L., is the fourth most important food crop in the world after rice, wheat and corn. Fortunately, the potato has many primitive cultivars and wild species relatives useful to reduce our reliance on chemical controls. These include resistances against diseases, pests, and traits for useful agronomic characters such as yield, specific gravity, chipping qualities, and suppression of enzymatic browning. This paper summarizes some of these qualities, and provides an overview of germplasm availability and taxonomy of the wild species. The major potato of commerce,Solanum tuberosum L., is the fourth most important food crop in the world after rice, wheat and maize. It is grown in more countries than any other crop but maize, and forms the staple crop of many societies. Over 280 million metric tons were grown worldwide in 1989, with Eastern Europe growing 46%, Asia 22%, Western Europe 17%, North America 7%, Latin America 5%, and Africa 3% (2). It is the leading vegetable crop in acreage and farm value in the United States, with 1.2 million acres planted in 1991, with a value of sales almost two and one-half billion dollars (53).Solanum tuberosum is one species of a group of seven cultivated and 216 additional tuber-bearing, and nine non-tuber-bearing wild relatives, all classified by Hawkes (41) in the genusSolanum, sectionPetota Dumort The purposes of this paper are threefold: 1) to provide examples of the proven and potential utility of wild and cultivated landrace members of sect.Petota for reducing our reliance on chemical controls for many pests and diseases that affect commercial cultivars, 2) to provide an overview of the status of germplasm availability of these species, and 3) to highlight the benefits for continuing germplasm collections and systematic studies of the group.     

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.     

Identification of late blight, Colorado potato beetle, and blackleg resistance in three Mexican and two South American wild 2x (1EBN)Solanum species

Wild potatoes are important sources of genes for resistance to disease and insect pests. A collection of wild Mexican and South AmericanSolarium species from the US potato Genebank was evaluated under laboratory and/or field conditions for their reaction to late blight (Phytophthora infestans), Colorado potato beetle (CPB,Leptinotarsa decemlineata Say), and blackleg (Erwinia carotovora subsp.atroseptica (van Hall) Dye) in order to identify individual genotypes with multiple resistance genes. Late blight inoculations using aggressive isolates (US-8/A2 and US-11/A1 mating types) of P.infestans revealed a wide range of variation for resistance between and within the accessions of the wild species tested. For late blight, susceptible as well as moderately to highly resistant genotypes were observed in all the species tested. However, at least one accession from the three Mexican and one South American wild diploid species tested showed a relatively uniform high level of resistance toP. infestans. These includedS. bulbocastanum, S. pinnatisectum, S. cardiophyllum, andS. circaeifolium. Two accessions from South American speciesS. commersonii were highly susceptible to late blight. For the Colorado potato beetle test, only one species,S. pinnatisectum appeared uniformly resistant to CPB under field conditions. Results of screening for blackleg resistance showed that there were major differences between genotypes in the wild species. Accessions ofS. circaeifolium PI 498119 andS. bulbocastanum PI 243504 were identified as having significantly higher blackleg resistance than cultivated potato and the other wild species tested. However, genotypes from these two accessions were more susceptible to late blight and CPB. Characterization of theP. infestans isolate P1801C.16 used for late blight evaluation and multi-locus isolate tests using US-8/A2 and US-11/A1 races revealed that the resistance inS. pinnatisectum genotypes tested corresponded to a race-non-specific genetic system, which was different from any existing R genes.Solanum pin-natisectum genotypes with both high levels of late blight and CPB resistance as well as blackleg resistance genotypes identified in the present study represent a diverse gene pool that may be useful for development of new potato cultivars with multiple disease and insect resistance. The potential utilization of these valuable sources for improvement of cultivated potato is discussed.     

A modified enzymic browning assay for potato glandular trichomes

Tetralobulate (Type A) glandular trichomes are present on foliage of many wild as well as cultivated species of potatoes. These trichomes confer resistance to insect pests if their density, gland size and biochemical products are similar as those ofSolanum berthaultti Hawkes andS. polyadenium Greenm. Hybrids ofS. tuberosum L. ×S. berthaultii have been screened for resistance by measurement of phenolic oxidation activity in their Type A trichomes by use of an enzymic browning assay. However, variability in the procedure has prompted the development of an improved assay.     

Screening the U.S. potato collection for frost hardiness

Potato is one of the most important world vegetables with respect to value of production and nutritional impact. Frost susceptibility reduces or precludes production on millions of hectares worldwide. In contrast to disease and pest problems, cultural or chemical treatments are not likely to be helpful in combating frost, so genetic improvement must be sought. Fortunately, wild relatives of the cultivated potato have been shown to exhibit frost tolerance far superior to that of cultivated species. In this research, over 2,600 accessions representing 101 species in the US potato collection at Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin were visually screened after natural frosts in a uniform field in 1992. This provided a more comprehensive survey of germplasm accessions, further characterized species’ hardiness and intraspecific variation. The most hardy species wereSolanum acaule, S. albicans, S. commersonii, andS. demissum. An additional previously unreported extremely frost hardy species (Solanum paucissectum) was discovered. This information should expand the insights and germplasm options available to those intent on breeding desirable varieties with high levels of frost hardiness.     

Selection and Validation of an AFLP Marker Core Collection for the Wild Potato Solanum microdontum

Solanum microdontum is a diploid potato species with features that make it a good model for research into management and use of germplasm in the genebank. Its taxonomic status is unambiguous and it is in the taxonomic series of wild species closest to cultivated forms. It is represented by about 100 populations in the genebank—not too many for comprehensive evaluation, yet not too few to make prioritization of the most valuable populations worthwhile. This species is also particularly rich in desirable traits, often exhibiting very broad segregation. We here report use of DNA markers for selection of a core set of populations, and assessing whether that core captures populations with the most desirable evaluation results for economic traits. DNA was extracted from bulks of 27 plants from each of 94 populations to generate AFLPs. A total of 1,741 informative loci were detected. AFLP loci were treated as though they were traits, with the banded condition considered to be the desired state to include in a core set. At least one band unique to a population was present in 45 populations, and these 45 populations together captured 98 % of all bands. Adding another 14 populations for a core of 59 populations captured 100 % of bands. This core set was assessed for whether it encompassed those populations known to have useful traits, including nutritional and quality components; and disease, stress and pest resistances. As with AFLP bands, 25 of 26 of the most desirable phenotypic traits were also found in populations in the core set of 59 populations. The most desirable status of 3 traits is lost by selecting a core of 45 populations. We conclude that these core sets would be a rational starting point when prospecting for new useful traits in microdontum.     

A genetic model for tuberization in potato haploid-wild species hybrids grown under long-day conditions

Wild diploidSolanum species contain valuable genes for potato improvement, but do not tuberize under the long-day conditions of temperate growing regions. Crosses to haploids (2n=2x=24) of the cultivated potato (Solanum tuberosum) produce hybrids that often tuberize under long days. The objectives of this work are (1) to document high levels of tuberization in haploid-wild species hybrid populations, (2) to evaluate the genetic basis of tuberization in haploid-wild species hybrids grown under long-day conditions, and (3) to propose a genetic model for tuberization in haploid-wild species hybrids. Tuberization under long-day conditions was evaluated in 154 haploid-wild species hybrid families. An average of 68% of plants in these families tuberized. Two major genes exhibiting duplicate dominant epistasis appear to regulate tuberization under long-day conditions. Based on this model, the haploid parent genotypes are A-B-, aaB-, or A-bb, while the wild species are aabb. Future studies are planned to identify the genetic components of tuberization.     

Total foliar glycoalkaloids and resistance of wild potato species toEmpoasca fabae (Harris)

Levels of total glycoalkaloids (TGA) in foliage of 10 wild, tuberbearingSolanum (Tourn.) L. species differentially resistant to infestation by the potato leafhopper,Empoasca fabae (Harris), were determined. Levels of TGA ranged from a high of 688 mg/100 g fresh wt. in a resistant species,S. polyadenium Greenm. to a low of 13 mg/100 g fresh wt. in a susceptible species,S. bulbocastanum Dun. Foliar concentration of TGA and nymphal infestation by the potato leafhopper were highly correlated (r = ?0.75, p = 0.01). The significant correlation of TGA levels and potato leafhopper resistance suggests that foliar TGA may be a significant factor in the defense of wild potato species against this pest.     

Application of a PCR-Based Cytoplasm Genotyping Method for Phylogenetic Analysis in Potato

We previously developed five polymerase chain reaction-based markers (T, S, SAC, D, and A) to distinguish potato cytoplasms into six types (M, P, A, W, T, and D). As the applicability of this genotyping method for phylogenetic studies had been questioned, we applied this method to species distantly related to cultivars (four accessions of two tomato species, and 176 accessions of 29 Solanum species). The T marker uncovered two insertions, which, along with a unique S marker band, supported independency of series Piurana. The A and D markers generated unique bands to A- and D-type cytoplasms, respectively, but the SAC marker generated a similar banding pattern to the cytoplasms of both cultivated and their distantly related species. Consequently, while the cytoplasm type definition is validated only among cultivated potatoes and their closely related wild species, the developed markers, with the exception of the SAC marker, could provide useful phylogenetic information.