The identification and evaluation of hybrid plants among open pollinated tkue seed families

An increase in the proportion ofhybrid vs. selfed plants improves the performance ofopen pollinated (OP) true potato seed (TPS) families. Strategies to increase the proportion ofhybrid seeds were investigated. A marker gene for yellow tuber flesh in a diploid clone, interplanted as the male parent, permitted identification of 4x × 2x hybrids among the OP progeny. Only 5% of the OP progeny were 4x × 2x hybrids. The proportion of 4x × 2x hybrid plants among the OP progeny was increased when the female parent had low male fertility and when only the largest 25% of the seeds were planted. The hybrid 4x × 2x plants were superior for all traits evaluated on the OP seedling transplant families. Traits included vigor, flowering, pollen stainability, OP fruit set, and tuber yield. Effects of the female parent were significant only for vigor and flowering, while seed size did not affect values for any trait consistently: With the limited outcrossing observed, the low seed set obtained when using parents with low male fertility and the work involved in selecting the largest seeds within individual fruits were not justifiable. However, research with OP true seed families asa low cost planting material should be continued, since high yielding OP families have been identified.