Abstract
Potato wild relatives provide a considerable source of variation for important traits in cultivated potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) breeding. This study evaluates the variation of tuber starch content and nitrogen utilization efficiency (NutE) in wild potato germplasm. For the experiments regarding starch content, 28 accessions of ten different tuber-bearing wild Solanum-species were chosen, and in vitro plantlets were raised from seeds. Twenty plantlets (= genotypes) per accession were then cultivated in the greenhouse until natural senescence and tuber starch content was determined. The average tuber starch content across all genotypes tested was 21.7% of fresh mass. Contents above 28% of fresh mass were found in 50 genotypes, belonging to the species S. chacoense, S. commersonii, S. jamesii, and S. pinnatisectum. Subsequently, 22 wild genotypes revealing high tuber starch contents and four modern varieties of cultivated potato were studied as in vitro plantlets under optimal and low N supply (30 and 7.5 mmol L−1 N). Low N supply lead to a genotype-dependent reduction of shoot dry mass between 13 and 46%. The majority of the wild types also reduced root dry mass by 26 to 62%, while others maintained root growth and even exceeded the NutE of the varieties under low N supply. Thus, wild potato germplasm appears superior to cultivars in terms of tuber starch contents and N utilization efficiency, which should be investigated in further studies.
Highlights
Besides being one of the most important food crops worldwide, potato (Solanum tuberosumL.) plays an important role in industry due to its starchy tubers
In 2013, altogether 28 different wild potato accessions (= populations) representing ten different species were cultivated in the greenhouse to evaluate their tuber starch contents
Of all the 506 genotypes analyzed, the starch content in the tubers amounted to 21.7% of fresh mass (FM)
Summary
Besides being one of the most important food crops worldwide, potato (Solanum tuberosumL.) plays an important role in industry due to its starchy tubers. Potato starch has superior characteristics because it is isolated, of high purity and of large granule size, needs low temperatures for gelatinization and produces gels with highest viscosity [2]. Depending on genotype and growing environment, a fresh potato tuber contains about. 20% of dry mass, 60–80% of which is starch [3]. Dedicated starch varieties may even reach a starch content of up to 23% of fresh mass [4]. The nitrogen (N) fertilizer regime influences starch yield by positively affecting canopy development and photosynthesis efficiency, dry matter partitioning to the tubers, tuber bulking and tuber yield formation [5,6]. Field N availability influences starch quality parameters, such as granule size, viscosity and breakdown [7].
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