Project Number: 5366-21000-026-00
Project Type: Appropriated

Start Date: Mar 01, 2008
End Date: Feb 28, 2013

Objective:
Objectives of this research are the development of potato varieties and germplasm with disease and pest resistances, reduced sugar accumulation, reduced need for production inputs, and enhanced nutritional qualities. Targets for resistance breeding are the major diseases and pests affecting potato production in the western United States. Many of these diseases and pests are nationally important, with germplasm and varieties from our program also benefitting potato producers outside the western United States as well. Objective 1: Develop potato germplasm with beneficial traits and make available to the potato industry, breeders, and geneticists. Objective 2: Develop enhanced potato varieties that benefit U.S. potato producers and consumers, including russets (fresh market and processing), long whites (processing), round whites (chipping), and specialty (red-skinned and yellow-fleshed), with emphasis on disease and pest resistance, reduced sugar accumulation, reduced need for production inputs, and enhanced nutritional qualities. Objective 3: Develop marker-assisted selection (MAS) protocols for potato traits, with an emphasis on pathogen and pest resistances. Objective 4: Characterize foliar and tuber responses of potato varieties to infection by newly identified strains of potato virus Y (PVY), and identify new sources of resistances to these PVY strains useful to potato breeders.

Approach:
This research, performed under institutional biosafety policies, will benefit the western U.S. potato industry by developing new potato varieties that will maintain the economic viability and competitiveness of this region in an age of expanding global competition. This will be accomplished by producing new potato varieties with improved agronomic characteristics, nutritional qualities, disease/pest resistances, and a reduced need for production inputs such as water and nitrogen. Desired traits will be acquired from wild relatives of the cultivated potato and from germplasm of other potato breeding programs within and outside of the U.S. Identified parental material will be hybridized with potato breeding clones and varieties adapted to the irrigated environments of the western U.S. Progeny of hybridizations will be evaluated, performance data collected, and superior individuals selected and advanced in the program for release as potato varieties with enhanced attributes. Newer technologies, such as marker-assisted selection, will be used to facilitate the development of enhanced potato varieties. Replacing 5366-21000-023-00D 01/2008