Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

To view all reports from the 2014 NRSP-6 TAC meeting, please go to: http://www.ars-grin.gov/nr6/NRSP6_TAC_MINUTES_2014_FINAL_PACKAGE.pdf

Our annual report can be accessed far below at the Publication Attachment link. A. Acquisitions and associated work In 2013, we collected 16 germplasm accessions from the southwest USA under the BdRFK (Bambergs, del Rio, Fernandez, Kinder) prefix. Another major accomplishment was to collect DNA samples from S. jamesii Megapopulations at the top and bottom of the range, especially the huge population at Mesa Verde. We are using DNA markers to find out if such populations are such incubators for diversity that they are the only place one needs to collect. We also tested new ideas for collecting when propagules are poor: 1) collecting in vitro in PPM medium needs no sterile hood and rescues clones that will not root in soil, 2) AFLP data has shown that collecting pollen captures unique alleles, 3) simple insecticide application to collected fruit prevents fruit fly grubs from destroying seeds. We made the first reported discovery and collection of potato from the Dragoon Mountains. We confirmed that jamesii still exists at the historic Faraway Ranch site, despite being unable to find it there since 1995. USDA/ARS/Plant Exploration Office supplied $5K and has again in 2014. Detailed trip report for 2013 and plan for 2014 are available on request. The genebank imported 7 elite breeding stocks from other countries and accepted 7 elite "M" clones from the Shelley Jansky program. The NRSP-6 web page (http://www.ars-grin.gov/nr6) was updated to include all new stocks and screening information. Clients who have ordered from NRSP-6 within the past four years were contacted three times in 2013, informing them of new stocks of true seed, tubers, in vitro plantlets, or other samples. We used email and the website to extend technical instructions of various types. For example, a technique for breaking tuber dormancy was fine tuned to give reliable and uniform results, even for very deep dormancy tubers. B. Preservation and Evaluation A total of 170 accessions were increased as botanical seed populations and 1900 clonally. Over 720 potato virus tests were performed on seed increase parents, seedlots and research materials. Germination tests were performed on 1489 accessions, ploidy determinations were made on 60 accessions, and tetrazolium seed viability tests were done on 50 seedlots. Taxonomic status was assessed on all stocks grown. A total of 7122 units of germplasm were distributed in 249 orders. Orders were filled within one week of receipt. Nearly 200 field plots were planted to verify that seed multiplication efforts last year resulted in offspring seedlots that matched their parents. We used SNPs (cooperator Douches from MI) to assess partitioning of genetic diversity in model potato species with a view to understanding their best management. With help of cooperators, we made progress evaluating and improving germplasm on several ongoing projects. Over 1800 field plots at USPG, about 1500 seedlings tuberized in two sites in CA (cooperators Serimian and Pearson), and 4 large screenhouses at USPG full of stocks supporting screening for improved Criolla or "egg yolk" style specialty potato with golden flesh (cooperator Douglass from FL), folate (cooperator Goyer from OR), glycoalkaloids (cooperator Navarre from WA), anti-obesity (cooperator Kemin from IA), greening, K-screening, new Coronita fruit mutant (extra pistils in place of anthers), Zebra Chip resistance in bulbocastanum (cooperator Cooper in WA). We detected a significant association of tuber pH (very fast, cheap and easy to screen) with glycoalkaloids and folate (much harder to screen) and organized an experiment to test this more systematically. This year, work with J. Palta (UW), International Potato Center (CIP), and colleagues in the Peruvian national potato program (INIA) progress was made in the frost hardiness breeding project with S. commersonii. An elite selection was informally named "Cola de gato". We also initiated a program to re-breed the nonbitter, frost hardy S. ajanhuiri, a primitive cultivated species with reputed progenitor S. megistacrolobum native to the Puno Altiplano. Dr. Jansky's Enhancement: The germplasm release of clone M6 was published in the Journal of Plant Registrations. M6 is an inbred line derived from seven generations of self-pollination. It is homozygous for the Sli gene that confers self-compatibility, and it is male and female fertile. Jansky, S.H., Y.S. Chung, and P. Kittipadukal. 2014. M6: A diploid inbred line for use in breeding and genetics research. Journal of Plant Registrations. Yong Suk Chung completed his Ph.D. thesis entitled “Bacterial soft rot resistance and calcium enhancement in wild and cultivated potato.” A polymorphism in the CAX3-like candidate gene for calcium uptake by roots was found to be associated with tuber calcium levels. An additional 12 SSR markers also co-segregated with calcium in tubers. SSR4743 is located near the CAX3 homolog on chromosome 7. Predictivity of taxonomy and biogeography for late blight resistance was completed (Alexander Khiutti, visiting scientist, St. Petersburg, Russia). A collection of 143 accessions representing 34 wild Solanum species was screened for foliar late blight resistance using whole plants and for tuber late blight resistance using greenhouse-generated tubers. A manuscript is in preparation. Recombinant inbred lines are being developed in populations derived from wild species carrying resistance to early blight (S. raphanifolium) and common scab (S. chacoense). In addition, an F2 population derived from self-pollinating a clone from a cross between DM1-3 and M6 is segregating for a number of agronomic and disease resistance traits. It is being genotyped using the SolCAP SNP array and will be used for trait mapping. RILs are also being developed in this population. A population derived by crossing US-W4 with M6 has been grown in replicated field trials for three years. Yield comparable to that of cultivars is common among clones in this population. Phenotyping (tuber yield, size set; chip color) and genotyping are underway. C. Classification Dr. Spooner is working on monographs that will fully document the taxonomic reduction of the genebank's species to about 100 species. D. Distribution service Distribution of germplasm is at the heart of our service. The volume and types of stocks sent to various consignee categories are summarized in the table below. We filled almost 1/3 more orders in 2013 than 2012: 230 domestic orders to clients in 39 states of the USA and 19 foreign orders to 10 other countries. About ½ of domestic orders are for breeding and genetics, about ¼ for home gardeners, and the remaining ¼ for pathology, physiology, entomology, taxonomy, and education. In 2013 we maintained the popular offering of 100 cultivars as tubers by devising and implementing an iron-clad disease control and quarantine program for their production (full details available at our website).

Bamberg del Rio, Martin, Suriano and coauthors: Five journal articles now available online will be documented in this report when in print: AFLP core set of microdontum, Zebra chip resistance screening in bulbocastanum, New Matryoshka floral mutant, Selection for tuber quality in a Superior x Atlantic hybrid population, History and origin of Russet Burbank. Chung, Y.S., N.J. Goeser, and S.H. Jansky. 2013. The effect of long term storage on bacterial soft rot resistance in potato. American Journal of Potato Research. 90:351-356. Duangpan, S., W. Zhang, Y. Wu, S.H. Jansky, and J. Jiang. 2013. Insertional mutagenesis using Tnt1 retrotransposon in potato. Plant Physiology 163:21-29. Fajardo, D., K.G. Haynes, and S.H. Jansky. 2013. Starch characteristics of modern and heirloom potato cultivars. American Journal of Potato Research. 90:460-469. Fajardo, D., S.S. Jayanty, and S.H. Jansky. 2013. Rapid high throughput amylose determination in freeze dried potato tuber samples. Journal of Visualized Experiments. 80: e50407-e504407. Hirsch, C.N., C.D. Hirsch, K. Felcher, J. Coombs, D. Zarka, A. van Deynze, W. de Jong, R. Veilleux, S. Jansky, P. Bethke, D.S. Douches, and C.R. Buell. 2013. Retrospective view of North American potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) breeding in the 20th and 21st centuries. G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics. 3:1003-1013. Jansky, S.H., A. Hamernik, and Y.S. Chung. 2012. M7 germplasm release: A tetraploid clone derived from Solanum infundibuliforme for use in expanding the germplasm base for French fry processing. American Journal of Potato Research. 89:448-452. Jansky, S.H., H. Dempewolf, E.L. Camadro, R. Simon, E. Zimnoch-Guzowska, D. Bisognin, and R. Simon, and M. Bonierbale. 2013. A case for crop wild relative preservation and use in potato (Solanum tuberosum L.). Crop Science. 53:1-9. Jansky, S.H., P. C. Bethke, and D. M. Spooner. 2014. Yield gains in potato: Contributing factors and future prospects. In: Yield Gains in Major U.S. Field Crops. Ed. S. Smith, B. Diers, B. Carver, and J. Specht. CSSA, Madison, WI. Jansky, S.H., Y.S. Chung, and P. Kittipadukal. 2014. M6: A diploid inbred line for use in breeding and genetics research. Journal of Plant Registrations. doi: 10.3198/jpr2013.05.0024crg. Lindqvist-Kreuze, H., K. Cho, L. Portal, F. Rodríguez, R. Simon, LL. A. Mueller, D. M. Spooner, and M. Bonierbale. 2013. Linking the potato genome to the conserved ortholog set (COS) markers. BMC Genetics 2013. 14: 51. Mezghani, N., I. Zaouali, W. Wided Bel Amri, S. Rouz. P. W. Simon, C. Hannachi, Z. Ghrabi, M. Neffati, B. Bouzbida, and D. M. Spooner. 2014. Fruit morphological descriptors as a tool for discrimination of Daucus L. germplasm. Genet. Res. Crop Evol. 61: 499-510. Spooner, D. M., M. P. Widrlechner, K. R. Reitsma, D. E. Palmquist, and P. W. Simon. 2014. Reassessment of practical subspecies identifications of the USDA Daucus carota germplasm collection: Morphological data. Crop Sci. 54: 706-718. Spooner, D.M. 2014. Research using biocultural collections, pp. 285-301.In: Salick, J., Konchar, K. & Nesbitt, M. (eds). Curating Biocultural Collections. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Spooner, D.M., and H. Ruess. 2014. Curating DNA specimens, pp. 87-96 In: Salick, J., Konchar, K. & Nesbitt, M. (eds). Curating Biocultural Collections. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Uribe, P., S. Jansky, and D. Halterman. 2014. Two CAPS markers predict Verticillium wilt resistance in wild Solanum species. Molecular Breeding. 33:465-476.