Pangenome analyses reveal impact of transposable elements and ploidy on the evolution of potato species.

Potato (., family Solanaceae) is the most important noncereal food crop globally. It has over 100 wild relatives in the section , which features species with both sexual and asexual reproduction and varying ploidy levels.

Evidence for Cardiac Glycosides in Foliage of Colorado Potato Beetle-Resistant .

, the Colorado potato beetle (CPB), is a herbivore that primarily feeds on foliage and is a global pest of the potato agricultural industry. Potato breeding through cross-hybridization with CPB-resistant wild relatives is used for genetic improvement. The wild species was demonstrated to deter CPB feeding in choice and no choice feeding assays.

Genome sequencing of adapted diploid potato clones.

Cultivated potato is a vegetatively propagated crop, and most varieties are autotetraploid with high levels of heterozygosity. Reducing the ploidy and breeding potato at the diploid level can increase efficiency for genetic improvement including greater ease of introgression of diploid wild relatives and more efficient use of genomics and markers in selection. More recently, selfing of diploids for generation of inbred lines for F1 hybrid breeding has had a lot of attention in potato.

Phased, chromosome-scale genome assemblies of tetraploid potato reveal a complex genome, transcriptome, and predicted proteome landscape underpinning genetic diversity.

Cultivated potato is a clonally propagated autotetraploid species with a highly heterogeneous genome. Phased assemblies of six cultivars including two chromosome-scale phased genome assemblies revealed extensive allelic diversity, including altered coding and transcript sequences, preferential allele expression, and structural variation that collectively result in a highly complex transcriptome and predicted proteome, which are distributed across the homologous chromosomes. Wild species contribute to the extensive allelic diversity in tetraploid cultivars, demonstrating ancestral introgressions predating modern breeding efforts.

The complete mitogenome assemblies of 10 diploid potato clones reveal recombination and overlapping variants.

The potato mitogenome is complex and to understand various biological functions and nuclear-cytoplasmic interactions, it is important to characterize its gene content and structure. In this study, the complete mitogenome sequences of nine diploid potato clones along with a diploid Solanum okadae clone were characterized. Each mitogenome was assembled and annotated from Pacific Biosciences (PacBio) long reads and 10X genomics short reads.

Complete mitogenome assemblies from a panel of 13 diverse potato taxa.

Mitochondrial DNA is maternally inherited and is shown to affect nuclear-cytoplasmic interactions in potato. Analyzing the mitogenome helps understand the evolutionary relationships and improve breeding programs in potato. We report complete mitogenome sequences from a panel of 13 potato accessions of various taxa.

The complete plastome sequences of nine diploid potato clones.

Potato ( L.) is the world's fourth most important food crop and essential for global food security. The potato chloroplast genomes, the plastomes, are highly conserved and are largely studied for their maternal lineages.

Complete plastome assemblies from a panel of 13 diverse potato taxa.

The chloroplasts are a crucial part of photosynthesizing plant cells and are extensively utilized in phylogenetic studies mainly due to their maternal inheritance. Characterization and analysis of complete plastome sequences is necessary to understand their diversity and evolutionary relationships. Here, a panel of thirteen plastomes from various potato taxa are presented.

Changes in gene expression in potato meristems treated with the sprout suppressor 1,4-dimethylnaphthalene are dependent on tuber age and dormancy status.

Commercial storage of potatoes often relies on the use of sprout inhibitors to prolong storage and reduce spoilage. The compound 1,4-dimethylnaphthalene (DMN) has seen increase application as a sprout inhibitor in the potato industry as older chemistries are being phased out. The mode of action of DMN is poorly understood as is the sensitivity of potato tissues to this new class of inhibitor.

Genome assembly of six polyploid potato genomes.

Genome assembly of polyploid plant genomes is a laborious task as they contain more than two copies of the genome, are often highly heterozygous with a high level of repetitive DNA. Next Generation genome sequencing data representing one Chilean and five Peruvian polyploid potato (Solanum spp.) landrace genomes was used to construct genome assemblies comprising five taxa.

Structural genome analysis in cultivated potato taxa.

Twelve potato accessions were selected to represent two principal views on potato taxonomy. The genomes were sequenced and analyzed for structural variation (copy number variation) against three published potato genomes. The common potato (Solanum tuberosum L.

Tuber transcriptome profiling of eight potato cultivars with different cold-induced sweetening responses to cold storage.

Tubers are vegetative reproduction organs formed from underground extensions of the plant stem. Potato tubers are harvested and stored for months. Storage under cold temperatures of 2-4 °C is advantageous for supressing sprouting and diseases.

Improving Potato Stress Tolerance and Tuber Yield Under a Climate Change Scenario - A Current Overview.

Global climate change in the form of extreme heat and drought poses a major challenge to sustainable crop production by negatively affecting plant performance and crop yield. Such negative impact on crop yield is likely to be aggravated in future because continued greenhouse gas emissions will cause further rise in temperature leading to increased evapo-transpiration and drought severity, soil salinity as well as insect and disease threats. This has raised a major challenge for plant scientists on securing global food demand, which urges an immediate need to enhance the current yield of major food crops by two-fold to feed the increasing population.

Current Strategies of Polyploid Plant Genome Sequence Assembly.

Polyploidy or duplication of an entire genome occurs in the majority of angiosperms. The understanding of polyploid genomes is important for the improvement of those crops, which humans rely on for sustenance and basic nutrition. As climate change continues to pose a potential threat to agricultural production, there will increasingly be a demand for plant cultivars that can resist biotic and abiotic stresses and also provide needed and improved nutrition.

Disease Resistance and the Regulatory Pathway for Maturity and Tuberization in Potato.

Kleb. is a pathogenic fungus causing wilting, chlorosis, and early dying in potato ( L.).

Pathogen and Pest Responses Are Altered Due to RNAi-Mediated Knockdown of GLYCOALKALOID METABOLISM 4 in Solanum tuberosum.

Steroidal glycoalkaloids (SGAs) are major secondary metabolites constitutively produced in cultivated potato Solanum tuberosum, and α-solanine and α-chaconine are the most abundant SGAs. SGAs are toxic to humans at high levels but their role in plant protection against pests and pathogens is yet to be established. In this study, levels of SGAs in potato were reduced by RNA interference (RNAi)-mediated silencing of GLYCOALKALOID METABOLISM 4 (GAME4)-a gene encoding cytochrome P450, involved in an oxidation step in the conversion of cholesterol to SGA aglycones.

The nitrogen responsive transcriptome in potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) reveals significant gene regulatory motifs.

Nitrogen (N) is the most important nutrient for the growth of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.). Foliar gene expression in potato plants with and without N supplementation at 180 kg N ha(-1) was compared at mid-season.

Differences between the Bud End and Stem End of Potatoes in Dry Matter Content, Starch Granule Size, and Carbohydrate Metabolic Gene Expression at the Growing and Sprouting Stages.

Potatoes usually have the tuber bud end dominance in growth during tuber bulking and in tuber sprouting, likely using carbohydrates from the tuber stem end. We hypothesized that the tuber bud end and tuber stem end coordination in carbohydrate metabolism gene expression is different between the bulking dominance and sprouting dominance of the tuber bud end. After comparing the growing tubers at harvest from a green vine and the stage that sprouts just started to emerge after storage of tubers at room temperature, we found the following: (1) Dry matter content was higher in the tuber stem end than the tuber bud end at both stages.

Comparative transcriptional analysis provides new insights into the molecular basis of adventitious rooting recalcitrance in Eucalyptus.

Adventitious rooting (AR) is essential in clonal propagation. Eucalyptus globulus is relevant for the cellulose industry due to its low lignin content. However, several useful clones are recalcitrant to AR, often requiring exogenous auxin, adding cost to clonal garden operations.

Comparative metabolite profiling of Solanum tuberosum against six wild Solanum species with Colorado potato beetle resistance.

The Colorado potato beetle Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say) (CPB) is a coleopteran herbivore that feeds on the foliage on Solanum species, in particular, potato. Six resistant wild Solanum species were identified, and two of these species had low levels of glycoalkaloids. Comparative analysis of the untargeted metabolite profiles of the foliage using UPLC-qTOF-MS was done to find metabolites shared between the wild species but not with Solanum tuberosum (L.

Decreased defense gene expression in tolerance versus resistance to Verticillium dahliae in potato.

Verticillium dahliae Kleb., a soil-borne fungus that colonizes vascular tissues, induces wilting, chlorosis and early senescence in potato. Difference in senescence timing found in two diploid potato clones, 07506-01 and 12120-03, was studied and genetic variation in response to V.

DNA damage in Populus tremuloides clones exposed to elevated O3.

The effects of elevated concentrations of atmospheric tropospheric ozone (O(3)) on DNA damage in five trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) clones growing in a free-air enrichment experiment in the presence and absence of elevated concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO(2)) were examined. Growing season mean hourly O(3) concentrations were 36.

Regulation of the beta-hydroxyacyl ACP dehydratase gene of Picea mariana by alternative splicing.

The gene for beta-hydroxyacyl ACP dehydratase, a de novo fatty acid biosynthetic enzyme, was cloned from Picea mariana (black spruce) and consists of five exons and four introns. The first intron of the beta-hydroxyacyl ACP dehydratase mRNA is alternatively spliced. Retention of intron 1 in splice variants results in truncation of the beta-hydroxyacyl ACP dehydratase ORF at a premature termination codon.

Dynamic histone acetylation of late embryonic genes during seed germination.

Histone acetylation is involved in the regulation of gene expression in plants and eukaryotes. Histone deacetylases (HDACs) are enzymes that catalyze the removal of acetyl groups from histones, which is associated with the repression of gene expression. To study the role of histone acetylation in the regulation of gene expression during seed germination, trichostatin A (TSA), a specific inhibitor of histone deacetylase, was used to treat imbibing Arabidopsis thaliana seeds.