Evaluation of Potato Hybrids Obtained from Tetraploid-Diploid Crosses I. Parent-Offspring Relationships.

A total of 45 tetraploid-diploid (4x-2x) hybrid progenies were obtained by crossing each of ten diploid parents as males to each of five tetraploid parents. A relatively low degree of determination (R²) of both 4x and 2x parents on the performance of their 4x-2x hybrid progenies was found for all six traits studied. This implies that test crossing and subsequent progeny analysis is necessary before such parents can be used in a breeding program. Since marketable yield was found to have a higher predictability than total yield, it is the preferred yield trait to be measured. Diploids which produce 2n gametes via FDR usually give rise to 4x progenies with a greater amount of heterosis than similar progenies derived from diploids which produce 2n gametes via SDR, although such heterosis is not necessarily ex-pressed in terms of marketable yield. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]