Evaluation under long-day conditions of 4x-2x progenies from crosses between potato cultivars and haploid Tuberosum-Solanum chacoense hybrids

Abstract

Summary Twelve 4x families (obtained from a sub-set of crosses between seven 4x-potato cultivars and three 2x haploid Tuberosum-Solanum chacoense hybrids) were evaluated at Hancock, Wisconsin (USA). The 4x-parents were elite cultivars selected for adaptation in three continents (Europe, South America, and North America). The 2x male clones were able to produce 2n-pollen grains by a mechanism akin to first-division restitution with crossover (FDR-CO). The estimation of the degree of heterosis for total tuber yield (TTY) was obtained by comparing the field performance of the progenies with their respective 2x and 4x parents. Haulm maturity (HM) and general tuber appearance (GTA) were also evaluated. For TTY, the 4x-2x families (as a group) outyielded both the 4x and 2x parental groups by 10.6% and 42.5%, respectively. In addition, 5 out of 12 families outyielded their corresponding 4x-parents. These best five families outyielded the group of 4x-parents by 40.6%. A considerable variability was observed for HM but, in general, the families were later maturing than the 4x cultivars. The identification of 4x-2x families with GTA within the range of the 4x commercial cultivars was another important observation. An overall lack of parent-offspring correlation was detected indicating that performance of the parents per se cannot provide a reliable prediction about the performance of the families. Therefore, progeny testing would be an imperative step for selection of parental clones at both ploidy levels. Our study indicated that haploid Tuberosum-S. chacoense hybrids are able to generate heterotic 4x-2x families for TTY in combination with good GTA. These results reinforce the view that selection of superior clones for the Northern Hemisphere can be feasible using germplasm with ∼25% genomic contribution of this wild South American species.