Potatoes are the fourth most important crop worldwide after rice, wheat, and corn. To expand knowledge of their genetic diversity, a new project will decode the genetic material of 6,357 potato varieties stored in Germany. The POMORROW – Potatoes for Tomorrow project is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
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A total of 6,357 potato accessions are held in the German gene bank. Five research institutes and three plant breeding companies have joined forces to study this collection. The objective is to identify accessions that are pest-resistant, require little fertilizer, or have high stress tolerance. Selected DNA segments from all potato accessions will be sequenced and compared, with a core collection representing the overall diversity to be established. The complete genome will be decoded for ten of these strains. The data will be used to build a prediction model that links genetic information to plant characteristics, accelerating the breeding of resilient varieties.
At the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology (MPI MP) in Potsdam, 240 potato accessions are being studied for drought resilience. The research also focuses on the interaction of potato plants with mycorrhizal fungi, which can improve nutrient uptake and stress response. "Field trials on potato varieties show that mycorrhizal fungi can help plants to absorb nutrients more efficiently and better cope with stress. We now want to test this in a genetically diverse group to find parents for the potato varieties of the future," said MPI MP Director Prof. Dr. Caroline Gutjahr, who leads the research with Dr. Karin Köhl.
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The team is testing selected potato lines with mycorrhizal fungi commonly used in horticulture. Growth is monitored under varying irrigation levels using laser scanners to determine which lines respond most positively. The goal is to identify drought-tolerant potatoes that maintain stable yields under limited water availability.
The POMORROW project is carried out in cooperation between several scientific partners: Julius Kühn Institute, Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK), Institute of Plant Biology and Biotechnology (IBBP), Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, and Institut für Pflanzenschutz at Hochschule Geisenheim University (HGU). Business partners include SaKa Pflanzenzucht GmbH & Co. KG, Europlant Innovation GmbH & Co. KG, Norika GmbH, and the Gemeinschaft zur Förderung von Pflanzeninnovation e. V. (GFPi).
For more information:
Rebecca Vaßen
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
Tel: +49 331 567 8310
Email: [email protected]
www.mpg.de