Abstract
Key messageGenomic prediction models for starch content and chipping quality show promising results, suggesting that genomic selection is a feasible breeding strategy in tetraploid potato.Genomic selection uses genome-wide molecular markers to predict performance of individuals and allows selections in the absence of direct phenotyping. It is regarded as a useful tool to accelerate genetic gain in breeding programs, and is becoming increasingly viable for crops as genotyping costs continue to fall. In this study, we have generated genomic prediction models for starch content and chipping quality in tetraploid potato to facilitate varietal development. Chipping quality was evaluated as the colour of a potato chip after frying following cold induced sweetening. We used genotyping-by-sequencing to genotype 762 offspring, derived from a population generated from biparental crosses of 18 tetraploid parents. Additionally, 74 breeding clones were genotyped, representing a test panel for model validation. We generated genomic prediction models from 171,859 single-nucleotide polymorphisms to calculate genomic estimated breeding values. Cross-validated prediction correlations of 0.56 and 0.73 were obtained within the training population for starch content and chipping quality, respectively, while correlations were lower when predicting performance in the test panel, at 0.30–0.31 and 0.42–0.43, respectively. Predictions in the test panel were slightly improved when including representatives from the test panel in the training population but worsened when preceded by marker selection. Our results suggest that genomic prediction is feasible, however, the extremely high allelic diversity of tetraploid potato necessitates large training populations to efficiently capture the genetic diversity of elite potato germplasm and enable accurate prediction across the entire spectrum of elite potatoes. Nonetheless, our results demonstrate that GS is a promising breeding strategy for tetraploid potato.
Highlights
Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is the third most important food crop worldwide after wheat and rice with 385 million tonnes fresh weight of tubers produced in 2014 from 19.2 million hectares of land (FAOSTAT 2015)
Our results suggest that genomic prediction is feasible, the extremely high allelic diversity of tetraploid potato necessitates large training populations to efficiently capture the genetic diversity of elite potato germplasm and enable accurate prediction across the entire spectrum of elite potatoes
Following filtering for Minor allele frequency (MAF) >1% estimated from read coverage, maximum missing data of 50%, and a minimum Singlenucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) coverage of 1, 505,321 SNPs remained
Summary
Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is the third most important food crop worldwide after wheat and rice with 385 million tonnes fresh weight of tubers produced in 2014 from 19.2 million hectares of land (FAOSTAT 2015). It is the most efficient producer of food energy and nutrition per unit area with similar or less input of nutrients and water compared to cereals (FAOSTAT 2015). In the potato chips and French fries processing industry, the most important quality trait of potato tubers is the content of reducing sugars in the tuber upon cold storage. The amount of reducing sugars increases during the cold storage necessary to inhibit sprouting and reduce waste (Isherwood 1973)
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