SolRgene: an online database to explore disease resistance genes in tuber-bearing Solanum species.

Background: The cultivated potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is an important food crop, but highly susceptible to many pathogens. The major threat to potato production is the Irish famine pathogen Phytophthora infestans, which causes the devastating late blight disease.

What's in a name; genetic structure in Solanum section Petota studied using population-genetic tools.

Background: The taxonomy and systematic relationships among species of Solanum section Petota are complicated and the section seems overclassified. Many of the presumed (sub)species from South America are very similar and they are able to exchange genetic material. We applied a population genetic approach to evaluate support for subgroups within this material, using AFLP data.

A novel approach to locate Phytophthora infestans resistance genes on the potato genetic map.

Mapping resistance genes is usually accomplished by phenotyping a segregating population for the resistance trait and genotyping it using a large number of markers. Most resistance genes are of the NBS-LRR type, of which an increasing number is sequenced. These genes and their analogs (RGAs) are often organized in clusters.

AFLP analysis reveals a lack of phylogenetic structure within Solanum section Petota.

Background: The secondary genepool of our modern cultivated potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) consists of a large number of tuber-bearing wild Solanum species under Solanum section Petota. One of the major taxonomic problems in section Petota is that the series classification (as put forward by Hawkes) is problematic and the boundaries of some series are unclear.