SAES-422 Multistate Research Activity Accomplishments Report
Sections
Status: Approved
Basic Information
- Project No. and Title: NRSP6 : The US Potato Genebank: Acquisition, Classification, Preservation, Evaluation and Distribution of Potato (Solanum) Germplasm
- Period Covered: 10/01/2015 to 09/30/2016
- Date of Report: 08/04/2017
- Annual Meeting Dates: 06/13/2017 to 06/13/2017
Participants
Present at Pyle Center: John Bamberg – USPG Project Leader, Sturgeon Bay Laura Shannon – new potato breeder at University of Minnesota Dave Spooner – USPG taxonomist, Madison Shelley Jansky – USPG germplasm enhancement, Madison Chris Hamilton – NCRA, Madison Josh Parsons – Frito-Lay, Rhinelander Bill Barker – CALS, Madison Jeff Endleman – UW potato breeder, Madison Max Martin – USPG Project Assistant, Sturgeon Bay Participating by remote access: Walter DeJong – NE Tech Rep, Cornell Peter Bretting – NPGS NPL, Beltsville Dave Douches – NC Tech Rep, MSU Craig Yencho – S Tech Rep, NCSU Dave Holm – W Tech Rep, CSU Ed Kaleikau – NPL NIFA, Beltsville Liang-Shiou Lin – NPL NIFA, Beltsville Rich Novy – USDA/ARS Tech Rep, Aberdeen, ID USPG Sturgeon Bay staff Curzio Caravati of Kenosha Potato Project Ron French -- APHIS/Quarantine, Beltsville JL Willet – USDA, Peoria
Accomplishments
Our 2016 annual report can be accessed above as an attachment in the participants section.
All germplasm documentation, and details about technology, outreach, and staff publications is available at our website: http://www.ars-grin.gov/nr6/
TAC meeting final package document can be accessed on our administration web site: https://www.ars-grin.gov/nr6/admin.html
PROGRESS AND PRINCIPAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS
A. Acquisitions and associated work
In 2016, we collected 26 germplasm accessions from Arizona, with the support of K. Williams of the USDA Plant Exploration office at Beltsville. We found robust populations in places never previously reported. A detailed trip report is available on GRIN. We also sought and received many new breeding stocks from H. DeJong. We began the process of acquiring clones for which PVP has expired.
Two manuscripts were published on the dynamics of germplasm acquisition in the genebank. One reported on a mega-population of jamesii that captures over 80% of the known diversity for that species. This would be a one-stop-shopping site for in situ collecting and study. Another manuscript was published that used model species to show the pattern of expected accumulation of diversity in the collection indicates that 100 populations essentially maximized diversity and unique alleles.
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 2016, 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.
B. Classification
Dr. Spooner’s monograph on the species of southern South America is now available and another on the species of northern South America is coming soon. Arrangements have been made to move and incorporate PTIS into the University of Wisconsin herbarium. We began making high quality digital scans of plants of all stocks to accompany the accession records in GRIN.
C. Preservation and Evaluation. About 3,500 individual field plots, greenhouse and screenhouse growouts were done locally and at the HARS research farm at Hancock, WI.
1. Propagation: In 2016, 143 seed increases and 3090 clonally (based on 1030 in vitro clones being transferred 3 times/year).
2. Germplasm health monitoring: We tested 698 accessions for PSTV and 310 clones for the six common potato viruses.
3. Characterization: We did 1509 germination tests, 34 ploidy evaluations and 31 tetrazolium seed viability assays. We demonstrated that some seedlots that have very low germination by conventional methods are actually highly viable if germination is nursed in vitro.
4. Evaluation and Technology:
Peru connection: With Peru cooperator J. Arcos and J. Palta of UW, we continued to make crosses of various elites for wart, drought, frost, late blight, tuber calcium for Puno, a major center of potato production and breeding in Peru. One of our hybrids is being tested for cultivar release.
Egg-yolk specialty potatoes: We continued evaluation of the best selections, and recurrent breeding. With cooperators at University of Minnesota, we began the process of creating an inbred diploid form of Criolla with exellent color, taste and tuber dormancy.
Genotyping genebank holdings: We received data from Frito genotyping of ~700 cultivars and breeding stocks and began analysis. This promises to be a tremendous tool to show us hot-spots of genetic diversity (core collections), which should lead to more efficient collecting, preservation, and evaluation of germplasm and mining of particular traits.
Seed germination: Diurnal temperature fluctuation effects on germination of recalcitrant seedlots was tested. Some “trickle-germinating” seedlots showed a beneficial burst of germination and increased final germ when exposed to cold nights.
Core collections and other intra-specific groupings: We made high quality digital scans of all ~225 members of boliviense and assessed ability to visually sub-group them.
Remote grow-outs: With U New Mexico cooperator at Farmington, we conducted remote field tuber grow-outs of all jamesii providing tissue for multiple analyses.
Tuber freezing resistance: Confirmed first reported significant tuber freezing survival. If we can dissect the physiology and apply it to other germplasm, it might lead to an efficient long-term germplasm storage tool.
Field tuber adaptation: We continued pursuit of large field tuber lines of jamesii and confirmed hybridity of other related species which are very rich in desirable traits but very difficult to cross with cultivated forms.
Potato beer: We continued to explore best approach to high quality product, and grew ~600 evaluation plots to identify high potassium materials. We shared samples with cooperators in Peru pursuant to a Peruvian potato beer that would benefit from Peru’s reputation as native home of potato.
D. Distribution
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. In 2016, distributions were typical: 221 domestic orders to 115 clients in 37 states and 16 foreign orders to 8 other countries. About 1/3 of the domestic orders are for breeding and genetics, 1/3 for home gardeners, and remainder 1/3 for pathology, physiology, entomology, taxonomy and education.
In 2016 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). We now only offer tubers of wild species by special order.
Units of Germplasm Sent
Category Seed TU IV DNA Plants Herb Total PIs
Domestic 7739 2271 2277 1043 945 0 14275 6099
Foreign 4203 0 695 0 0 0 4898 4409
Total 11942 2271 2972 1043 945 0 19173 10508
Types of stocks sent/(number of seeds, tubers or plantlets per standard shipping unit): Seed = True Seeds/(50), TU = Tuber Clones/(3), IV = in vitro/(3), DNA = dried leaf or tuber samples/(1), Plants = Rooted Cuttings/(1), Herb = Herbarium Specimens/(1).
E. Outreach
Trip to Peru in March solidified program for cooperative activities in Puno.
Chaired Potato CGC and AJPR Editorial Board meetings.
Volunteered presentations with published abstracts: Four at PAA in Grand Rapids, MI, Invited presentation at CSSA meeting in PHX.
Provided Master Gardeners’ training and engagement in potato science with germination testing work days.
Hired and managed an undergrad student as summer interns with research projects.
Hosted international visitors from Peru, Chile, Japan
Impacts
- At least 70% of named US cultivars have our exotic germplasm in their pedigrees. Of the last 8 cultivar releases from the Wisconsin breeding program, 6 have parents of at least one wild species from the genebank.
- Greening resistance (Idaho). Greening is estimated to cause over-all losses of 15%. Genebank staff discovered and described extreme resistance to greening in the wild species microdontum in 2015 (AJPR 92:435). At the Potato Association of America meeting in July 2017, colleagues in Idaho reported success in transferring the trait to adapted tuberosum.
- Yukon Gold, one of the most popular and name-recognized tablestock cultivars. Has S. phureja 195198, an exotic cultivated species from NRSP-6 as a grandparent, and was bred using the Wisconsin-developed 2n gamete technique.
- Simplot Innate lines. In 2016 Simplot got clearance for its second generation of Innate potatoes with reduced bruising, reduced asparagine, resistance to late blight, and enhanced cold storage capability. These advances promise huge savings in increase processed quality, reduced pesticide use, and reduced acrylamide. This technology developed by Simplot scientists was made possible by adapting genes from wild and cultivated potatoes from the potato genebank… http://www.simplot.com/news/innate_second_generation_potato_receives_fda_safety_clearance).
- Zebra chip (ZC) is a devastating new disease with little resistance in the potato breeding pool. It has been estimated that ZC spread to WI would result in a loss of about $670 per acre (Greenway AJPR 2014, 91:714). With cooperator R. Cooper, USDA from WA state, genebank staff identified resistance in the wild Mexican potato species Solanum verrucosum and began the process of moving it into cultivated form (Cooper & Bamberg AJPR 2016, 93:386).
- Potato is the world’s top vegetable and 3rd most important food crop. To efficiently keep that diversity in genebanks we need to understand the diversity in the wild. In 2016, genebank staff completed 25 years of expeditions in the southwest USA, mapping and prioritizing hundreds of collection locations for their diversity, and conducting numerous DNA marker studies on the factors that predict patterns of diversity (Bamberg et al. AJPR 2016, 93:564).
- In cooperation with colleagues in Peru, Michigan State University, PepsiCo, and Inner Mongolian University, generated genetic marker data was generated for 700 breeding stocks and 3000+ wild species populations. This will allow unprecedented power to understand and use germplasm. This is all now possible because unique stocks originally obtained from the genebank facilitated sequencing the potato genome.
- In 2016 the genebank staff generated tuber samples and contracted screening for metformin-related (anti-diabetes) compounds with research partners at Colorado State University who had previously reported significant levels in potato. Diabetes is the most expensive disease in the USA, with over one-third of the population affected. Metformin is currently also being tested as an anti-aging drug, which, if effective, by itself could save an estimated $140B in healthcare costs per year in the US (Time Feb 22-29, 2016).
- Genebank staff have been breeding for frost, drought and wart resistance on the Peruvian altiplano for many years in cooperation with Jiwan Palta at UW and INIA researchers at Puno worldwide (http://www.ars-grin.gov/nr6/press2/Grow_Fall_2013.pdf). In 2016 three lines bred at the genebank were entered into testing for cultivar release in Puno. A super-high antioxidant line was identified by genebank staff in cooperation with Roy Navarre, USDA, WA (Pillai et al. 2013, AJPR 90:440). In 2016 it entered testing in Peru with the intent of mitigating the effects of lead poisoning—a serious health problem of children in certain areas of Peru.
- About 50% of the four-fold advance in potato yields have been due to genetic improvement and about 1% of annual value of all crops may be credited to exotic germplasm. Pro-rated, this calculates to a total of $10-25 million benefit from germplasm per year for potatoes in the USA, although it is probably considerably more in light of the fact that potato uses exotic stocks in breeding more than any other major crop.
Publications
Cooper, R., and JB Bamberg. 2016. Variation in susceptibility to potato psyllid, Bactericera cockerelli (Hemiptera: Triozidae), among Solanum verrucosum germplasm accessions. American Journal of Potato Research 93:386-391.
Bamberg, JB, A. H. del Rio, D. Kinder, L. Louderback, B.Pavlik, and C.Fernandez. 2016. Core Collections of potato (Solanum) species native to the USA. American Journal of Potato Research 93:564-571.
Bamberg, JB and A. H. del Rio. 2016. Accumulation of genetic diversity in the US Potato Genebank. American Journal of Potato Research 93:430-435.
Bamberg, J.B., Martin, M.W., Abad, J., Jenderek, M.M., Tanner, J., Donnelly, D.J., Nassar, AM.K., Veilleux, R.E., Novy, R.G. 2016. In vitro technology at the US Potato Genebank. In Vitro Cellular and Developmental Biology – Plants 52:213-225.
Bamberg, JB, AH del Rio and RA Navarre. 2016. Intuitive Visual Impressions (Cogs) for Identifying Clusters of Diversity within Potato Species. American Journal of Potato Research 93:350-359.
Jansky, S.H., Charkowski, A.O., Douches, D.S., Gusmini, G., Richael, C., Bethke, P.C., Spooner, D.M., Novy, R.G., De Jong, H., De Jong, W.S., Bamberg, J.B., Thompson, A.L., Bizimungu, B., Holm, D.G, Brown, C.R., Haynes, K.G., Sathuvalli, V.R. et al. 2016. Reinventing potato as a diploid inbred line-based crop. Crop Science 56:1-11.
Chung, Y.S., Palta, J., Bamberg, J., Jansky, S. 2016. Potential molecular markers associated with tuber calcium content in wild potato germplasm. Crop Science. 56(2):576-584.
Bruce R. Robinson, Vidyasagar Sathuvalli, John Bamberg, and Aymeric Goyer. 2015. Exploring Folate Diversity in Wild and Primitive Potatoes for Modern Crop Improvement. Genes (Basel). 2015 Dec 8;6(4):1300-14.
Bamberg, J., Moehninsi, R. Navarre, and J. Suriano. 2015. Variation for Tuber Greening in the Diploid Wild Potato Solanum microdontum. American Journal of Potato Research 92:435-443.
Hardigan, M., J Bamberg, C Robin Buell and D Douches. 2015. Taxonomy and genetic differentiation among wild and cultivated germplasm of Solanum sect. Petota. The Plant Genome. 8:1:16.
Bamberg, JB, A del Rio, J Coombs and D Douches. 2015. Assessing SNPs versus RAPDs for predicting heterogeneity in wild potato species. American Journal of Potato Research 92:276-283.