Potato Genebank stocks to share

[keen101 (Biolumo / Andrew B.)]

Potato Colleagues,

Spring has sprung! It’s time to start thinking about ordering stocks from the US Potato Genebank. If you have already ordered tubers and have not yet received them, we will be shipping tuber orders out in the next two weeks. If you haven’t ordered tubers, we still have a limited supply available from our 2015 greenhouse fall tuber harvest. They are listed on our web site and we will be happy to share tuber samples for research and breeding purposes while supplies last. If you want to look over the list of tubers still available, you can view the tuber list from this web link.

We’ve recently added five new clones to our in vitro collection (listed below). More detailed information for each clone can be viewed from this new clones web link.

1) CALIFORNIA GOLD - Developed by Carlos Quiros, University of California. Reddish-brown skin, russet, with pinkish eyes, flat oblong tuber and deep yellow flesh.
2) DOUBLOON - Developed by Carlos Quiros, University of California. Light brown skin, russet, round tuber and dark yellow flesh.
3) GOLD NUGGET - Developed by Carlos Quiros, University of California. Brown skin, slight russet, purple eyes, roundish smooth tuber and dark yellow flesh.
4) INKA GOLD - Developed by Carlos Quiros, University of California. The main attribute of this `Inka Gold' is its deep yellow flesh color.
5) SARPO MIRA - Developed in Hungary. Long to oval tuber; red skin. Late blight resistance.

We have nearly 5,000 accessions of over 90 different wild and cultivated potato species available as botanical seed and nearly 1,000 cultivated or breeding stock materials available as in vitro clones. Listings of these stocks can be accessed from this holdings page web link.

If you are interested in receiving any stocks we have available, please feel free to send us an Email, give us a call or enter it into the new GRIN Global database ordering system.

Best regards,


Jesse Schartner
USDA, ARS – NRSP-6
US Potato Genebank
4312 State Highway 42
Sturgeon Bay, WI 54235
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Jesse[dot]Schartner [at] ars[dot]usda[dot]gov
www.ars-grin.gov/nr6/

Colleagues,

If any of you are interested in tubers for your research work, I’ve made a list of clones we grew and harvested in November and loaded the list onto our 2016 Tuber List page on our web site. A limited supply of the clones listed is available. These tubers were produced on plants isolated in an insect-controlled greenhouse on benches, in sterilized clay pots containing commercial soilless mix, and originating from in vitro material which tested free of viruses. However, they are not guaranteed disease free. We recommend that the most appropriate use of these tubers is destructive testing or one-year field grow-outs which you are confident would present no risk to your program. For any other uses, we highly recommend you order the clones you want in the standard in vitro form.

The greenhouse spray program was not done with a food crop in mind, so these tubers are NOT FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION.

We have nearly 5,000 accessions of over 100 different wild and cultivated potato species available as botanical seed and nearly 1,000 cultivated or breeding stock clones available in vitro. All of these stocks can be linked to from our Genebank Holdings page on our web site.

If you are interested in receiving any stocks we have available, please feel free to send us an Email or give us a call.

Best regards,

Jesse Schartner
USDA, ARS - NRSP-6
US Potato Genebank

[kevin8715]

About time here to start potatoes here. Some questions for those that have used the ordering process:
How long is the turn around for just true seed?
What is the usual germination rate of these seeds? I am guessing better than average since their seed stocks will be aged quite a bit with so many accessions to grow out.

[billw]

True seed turnaround is pretty fast - a couple of weeks usually. Germination ranges from about 20 to 100, but mostly 50 to 80. The most recent germination test results are usually listed on the detail page for the accession.

[kevin8715]

Sept 19, 2016 23:18:23 GMT -5 billw said:

True seed turnaround is pretty fast - a couple of weeks usually. Germination ranges from about 20 to 100, but mostly 50 to 80. The most recent germination test results are usually listed on the detail page for the accession.

Thanks. I might order later when I figure out where exactly I want to go and the traits I need. Currently, I plan to grow out some Magic Dragon and your diploid variety mix. I also have Sarpo Mira seeds to work with though they are tetraploid I believe. At the very least, I should be able to select for strong blight resistance and cross back to other diploid varieties.

[nathanp]

Kevin, where are you located? I know some growers in the Pacific Northwest that say Sarpo Mira does not stand up all that well to late blight there. It really depends on which strain(s) are around.

Are you mostly planning on working with diploids?

Crossing diploid to tetraploid is never a given ... usually it results in low seed quantities inside berries, and sometimes results in undesirable triploids.

Generally, the mother plant will determine the ploidy, so cross in whichever direction you wish, but know that if the diploid is the mother, there will be some triploids in the mix, and mostly diploids.

If you are looking for Late Blight resistance, the best ones the USDA has are ones noted for 'durable field resistance', that do NOT have R genes. They are listed as having non R gene resistance. Some of these are just breeding lines, not named tubers.

[kevin8715]

Sept 30, 2016 23:09:29 GMT -5 nathanp said:

Kevin, where are you located? I know some growers in the Pacific Northwest that say Sarpo Mira does not stand up all that well to late blight there. It really depends on which strain(s) are around.

Are you mostly planning on working with diploids?

Crossing diploid to tetraploid is never a given ... usually it results in low seed quantities inside berries, and sometimes results in undesirable triploids.

Generally, the mother plant will determine the ploidy, so cross in whichever direction you wish, but know that if the diploid is the mother, there will be some triploids in the mix, and mostly diploids.

If you are looking for Late Blight resistance, the best ones the USDA has are ones noted for 'durable field resistance', that do NOT have R genes. They are listed as having non R gene resistance. Some of these are just breeding lines, not named tubers.

Southern Cal, zone 10A. The main problem over the years has been late blight. For instance, the tomato crop was producing well until late blight hit this year like 2 months ago. The temperature are still fine to grow tomatoes, but blight cut the season short. Potatoes here have a similar problem though worst as they barely produce enough to replant. I will work with both diploid and tetraploid. Diploid for baby potatoes that taste great and tetraploid for production. I have quite a bit of TPS from trades over the years, so I should be able to grow something that works.

[nathanp]

You can find lots of sources of late blight resistance if you are buying or trading for TPS from hobby growers. Much more so than what you may find in commercial potatoes. Commercial breeders are working with some LB resistant breeding lines, but progress is slow due to the amount of time it takes to breed a marketable potato that meets all the 30+ qualifications.

In many respects, you may not even need to request material from the USDA genebank.

If you are trying crossing for the first time, try crossing tetraploids with other tetraploids, and diploids to other diploids. You will get a much higher percentage of berries and viable seeds.