Germplasm, Breeding, and Genomics in Potato Improvement of Biotic and Abiotic Stresses Tolerance

Abstract

Potato is one of the most important food crops in the world. Late blight, viruses, soil and tuber-borne diseases, insect-pests mainly aphids, whiteflies, and potato tuber moths are the major biotic stresses affecting potato production. Potato is an irrigated and highly fertilizer-responsive crop, and therefore, heat, drought, and nutrient stresses are the key abiotic stresses. The genus Solanum is a reservoir of genetic diversity, however, a little fraction of total diversity has been utilized in potato breeding. The conventional breeding has contributed significantly to the development of potato varieties. In recent years, a tremendous progress has been achieved in the sequencing technologies from short-reads to long-reads sequence data, genomes of Solanum species (i.e., pan-genomics), bioinformatics and multi-omics platforms such as genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, ionomics, and phenomics. As such, genome editing has been extensively explored as a next-generation breeding tool. With the available high-throughput genotyping facilities and tetraploid allele calling softwares, genomic selection would be a reality in potato in the near future. This mini-review covers an update on germplasm, breeding, and genomics in potato improvement for biotic and abiotic stress tolerance.

Resistance Evaluation for Native Potato Accessions against Late Blight Disease and Potato Cyst Nematodes by Molecular Markers and Phenotypic Screening in India

“…The absence of the marker in resistant genotypes could be attributed to alternative sources of resistance such as found in S. spegazzini or recombination resulting in the loss of the TG689 marker fragment. The PCN evaluation based on molecular markers is supported by previous findings [ 27 , 28 ]. Our promising accessions have the potential to be a valuable source of PCN resistance in Indian potato breeding programs, demonstrating the importance of this specific accession in broadening PCN resistance.…”

Diversity of the Rysto gene conferring resistance to potato virus Y in wild relatives of potato

“…Potato ( Solanum tuberosum L.) is the third most important food crop of the world after rice and wheat [ 1 ]. More than 50 viruses can infect potato, of which Potato virus Y (PVY, genus Potyvirus , family Potyviridae ) is among the economically most damaging ones with tuber yield losses up to 80% [ 2 ].…”

“…Wild relatives of potato are sources of resistance genes that confer resistance to many pathogens, including PVY [ 1 , 7 , 8 ]. Extreme resistance conferred by the dominant Ry genes protects potato plants against all strains of PVY and suppresses virus multiplication in inoculated cells [ 9 , 10 ].…”

An atlas of small RNAs from potato

“…Potato ( Solanum tuberosum L .) is the third largest food crop in the world (Tiwari et al, 2022 ). It belongs to the Solanaceae family and is native to the Andes region in South America, where it was first domesticated.…”