Search

The paper describes the potato parental line breeding programme developed in Poland from the 1960s. The aim of the programme was to create parental forms useful for speeding up the breeding of new potato varieties and getting higher efficiency in directed selection for desired traits. The programme introduced new sources of resistance and quality traits into the Polish breeding pool by conducting research and breeding of tetraploid and diploid parental lines. The programme had significant impact on potato breeding, with 72 Polish potato varieties originating from crossings involving parental lines. These varieties show higher levels of resistance to major pathogens of potato crops, including resistance to Potato virus Y and late blight in starch group. Besides the direct impact on potato breeding, the programme was the stimulus for developing studies focused on potato genotype. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hollow heart, a physiological disorder, impacts tuber quality and make marketable tubers unattractive and can have adverse effect on marketability of the produce. The investigation on one hundred eight(108) potato genotypes for presence of hollow heart symptoms revealed that 77 genotypes (71%) were free from hollow heart symptoms, while remaining 31 genotypes (29%) showed presence of 10-100% hollow heart symptoms. Most of the indigenous varieties and advanced clones were free from hollow heart symptoms. Screening of 5-10 medium sized tubers (80-100 gram) per genotype depending upon availability of tubers in initial or advanced clonal stages would be realistic approach for screening of hollow heart in potatoes. Parental line selected for hybridization in potato breeding must be free of hollow heart to achieve the desirable gain in the segregating population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The texture of boiled potato tubers is one of the most important quality traits. The variation of tuber texture is usually examined in relationship with dry matter or starch content. The objective of the work was to examine variation and stability of texture and starch content in tubers grown in various environments. Both traits were evaluated for the set of potato breeding lines and 10 table potato cultivars. The lines were developed in the program of parental lines carried out in Młochów Research Center, Poland. The environments were represented by three locations, which differed in cultivation system as well as climatic and soil conditions. The traits were influenced by the effects of genotype, location and their interactions. The effect of location on texture was not explained by the changes in starch content. The calculated stability parameters indicated that unstable expression of both traits was more pronounced and more frequent in breeding lines than in the cultivars. The short period of selection used in the development of the parental lines is not conducive to select potato genotypes with stable expression of quality traits. The starch content was at most moderately related with various characteristics of tuber texture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(1) Background: Although resistance to pathogens and pests has been researched in many potato cultivars and breeding lines with DNA markers, there is scarce evidence as to the efficiency of the marker-assisted selection (MAS) for these traits when applied at the early stages of breeding. A goal of this study was to estimate the potential of affordable DNA markers to track resistance genes that are effective against the pathogen Phytophthora infestans (Rpi genes), as a practical breeding tool on a progeny of 68 clones derived from a cross between the cultivar Sudarynya and the hybrid 13/11-09. (2) Methods: this population was studied for four years to elucidate the distribution of late blight (LB) resistance and other agronomical desirable or simple to phenotype traits such as tuber and flower pigmentation, yield capacity and structure. LB resistance was phenotypically evaluated following natural and artificial infection and the presence/absence of nine Rpi genes was assessed with 11 sequence-characterized amplified region (SCAR) markers. To validate this analysis, the profile of Rpi genes in the 13/11-09 parent was established using diagnostic resistance gene enrichment sequencing (dRenSeq) as a gold standard. (3) Results: at the early stages of a breeding program, when screening the segregation of F1 offspring, MAS can halve the workload and selected SCAR markers for Rpi genes provide useful tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]