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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Madison, Wisconsin » Vegetable Crops Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #364069
Research Project: Maximizing the Impact of Potato Genebank Resources: Development and Evaluation of a Wild Species Genotype Diversity Panel

Location: Vegetable Crops Research

Title: Identification of quantitative trait loci for stem-end chip defect and potato chip color traits in a ‘Lenape’-derived full-sib population

Author
item FREDERICK, CURTIS - University Of Wisconsin
item Bethke, Paul

Submitted to: American Journal of Potato Research
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/12/2019
Publication Date: 11/27/2019
Citation: Frederick, C.M., Bethke, P.C. 2019. Identification of Quantitative Trait Loci for stem-end chip defect and potato chip color traits in a ‘Lenape’-derived full-sib population. American Journal of Potato Research. 96:564-577(2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12230-019-09746-3.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12230-019-09746-3

Interpretive Summary: Potato chip appearance is an important measure of chip quality. Potato chips that contain dark-colored blemishes are undesirable to consumers and chip processors. Prior observations from field and research trials have shown that some potato varieties are more likely to develop dark-colored blemishes than others, and that heat stress of potato plants promotes the accumulation of dark-colored blemishes on potato chips. Here we show that blemish formation is a heritable trait and we identify regions in the potato genome that contribute to the expression of this trait. This information can be used by potato breeders who are trying to develop improved chipping potato varieties that make consistently attractive potato chips.

Technical Abstract: Potatoes are bred to meet the needs of specific market classes. Chipping potatoes are selected for their shape, size, starch content, and ability to produce light-colored, defect-free fried chips. The objective of this study was to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) for economically important quality traits in chip processing potatoes. A bi-parental population was developed by crossing the chip processing varieties ‘Wauseon’ and ‘Lenape.’ Tubers from parents and 191 individual progeny were produced at a single site in 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015, stored as 9°C and evaluated for chip color descriptors L*, a*, and b* and stem-end chip defect (SECD) score in January, March, and May. The population was genotyped using the SolCAP 8303 Infinium array and a 1,282 cM linkage map was constructed using 2,355 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers. QTL mapping was performed using TetraploidMap 2.0 software and 54 significant QTL were detected: 9 for SECD, 28 for chip color descriptors, and 17 for change in chip color descriptors between storage periods. QTL were detected on eleven of twelve chromosomes and there were several genomic regions where multiple QTL overlapped. The largest effect QTL for SECD was on chromosome III and the closest marker mapped to a position within 2 Mb of vacuolar acid invertase. The largest effect QTL for chip color was on chromosome VI and the region near the closest marker contained fructokinase and hexokinase. The data presented here show that SECD is an inherited, quantitative trait. The QTL identified for SECD and chip color traits are starting points for developing molecular markers that can be used to select for lines with reduced susceptibility to SECD formation.