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

Abstract

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.

Variation in tuber mineral concentrations among accessions of Solanum species held in the Commonwealth Potato Collection

“…Wild potato species represent a diverse gene pool which might be utilized in breeding programmes as sources of valuable genes (reviewed by Bradshaw and Ramsay 2006).…”

“…There are good prospects for significant improvements using this diverse potato germplasm for many traits (Bradshaw et al 2006), including, for example, tuber calcium concentrations (Bamberg et al 1993(Bamberg et al , 1998Paget et al 2014), iron and zinc concentrations (Paget et al 2014). Therefore, it is useful to explore the genetic resources of the wild relatives of potatoes as a source for the genetic enhancement of tuber minerals, because they may harbour an allelic richness for useful traits including tuber mineral concentration.…”

Plants, People, and the Conservation of Biodiversity of Potatoes in Peru

“…CIP's conservation efforts related to native potato varieties began when it inherited a Peruvian germplasm bank consisting of some 1,800 entities (CIP 1972). In addition, CIP scientists carried out a series of collection expeditions in the highlands of Peru (as well as Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala and Mexico) to procure both wild and cultivated potatoes (Bradshaw et al 2006). The resulting World Potato Collection, the largest of its kind found anywhere on the planet, includes 2700 endemic native cultivated potato varieties from Peru plus another 900 from Bolivia and Ecuador (CIP 2009) and is held in trust at CIP "[...] as part of an international effort to prevent genetic erosion and losses, to secure worldwide access to these resources, and to use then in breeding to increase potato productivity" (Huaman & Schmiediche 1999, p. 415).…”

“…Sustaining biodiversity in developing countries has been the focus of rising interest and concern over the last several decades (e.g., Ten Kate & Laird 1999;Alteri & Merrick 1987;Brush 2004;Bradshaw et al 2006;Sutherland et al 2009). The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations´ declaration of 2010 as the International Year of Biodiversity is but the latest indicator of this trend.…”

Phenotype and molecular diversity evaluation of some wild 2n Solanum species (super series Rotata)

“…Central and South America are centers of origin and diversity of wild tuber-bearing Solanum species, and hence the primary sources of genes for disease and pest resistances lacking in modern cultivars (Bradshaw et al, 2006). The evolutionary diversity of the wild species and the comparatively narrow genetic basis of the cultivated potato make Solanum species unique materials for breeding (Carputo et al, 2013), which represents a tremendously diverse gene pool traditionally utilized as a source of various traits in potato breeding (Heřmanová et al, 2007).…”