Abstract
The first decade of genetic engineering primarily focused on quantitative crop improvement. With the advances in technology, the focus of agricultural biotechnology has shifted toward both quantitative and qualitative crop improvement, to deal with the challenges of food security and nutrition. Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is a solanaceous food crop having potential to feed the populating world. It can provide more carbohydrates, proteins, minerals, and vitamins per unit area of land as compared to other potential food crops, and is the major staple food in many developing countries. These aspects have driven the scientific attention to engineer potato for nutrition improvement, keeping the yield unaffected. Several studies have shown the improved nutritional value of potato tubers, for example by enhancing Amaranth Albumin-1 seed protein content, vitamin C content, β-carotene level, triacylglycerol, tuber methionine content, and amylose content, etc. Removal of anti-nutritional compounds like steroidal glycoalkaloids, acrylamide and food toxins is another research priority for scientists and breeders to improve potato tuber quality. Trait improvement using genetic engineering mostly involved the generation of transgenic products. The commercialization of these engineered products has been a challenge due to consumer preference and regulatory/ethical restrictions. In this context, new breeding technolgies like TALEN (transcription activator-like effector nucleases) and CRISPR/Cas9 (clustered regularly interspaced palindromic repeats/CRISPR-associated 9) have been employed to generate transgene-free products in a more precise, prompt and effective way. Moreover, the availability of potato genome sequence and efficient potato transformation systems have remarkably facilitated potato genetic engineering. Here we summarize the potato trait improvement and potential application of new breeding technologies (NBTs) to genetically improve the overall agronomic profile of potato.
Highlights
The rising food demand in a populating world will require a proportional increase in the food source
Several bacterial diseases (Buttimer et al, 2017), and fungal diseases are Targeted gene(s)
Research focusing on food safety and security can provide substantial ways to meet up the rising food demands, especially in the food-deficit countries
Summary
The rising food demand in a populating world will require a proportional increase in the food source. Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.), a solanaceous food crop, is ranked fourth among the major staple crops after maize, rice, and wheat It can provide more carbohydrates, proteins, minerals, and vitamins per unit area of land and time as compared to other potential food crops (Zaheer and Akhtar, 2016). Other factors may include intra-species incompatibilities and inbreeding depression that causes failure in trait incorporations in polyploid crops through conventional breeding In this context, new breeding technologies (NBTs) offer a leading hand for trait improvement in crop plants and provide a platform for precise and robust plant genome editing. Several bacterial diseases (soft rot/blackleg caused by Dickeya solani, common scab caused by Streptomyces scabies) (Buttimer et al, 2017), and fungal diseases (late blight caused by Phytophthora infestans, powdery scab caused by Spongospora subterranea; Arora et al, 2014; Balendres et al, 2016) are TABLE 1 | Transgenic potato enhanced for nutritional traits
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