POTENT · A new model for potato tuber initiation and yield development
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2019-05-01 → 2022-09-27
- EU contribution
- €337,401
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
A new model for potato tuber initiation and yield development
What is the problem/issue being addressed? For potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) the earliness of tuberization dictates the time to crop maturity and so the trait is a crucial factor in the agronomy and economic yield of the potato crop. Early maturity can also protect the crop from plant pathogens and diseases as well as help avoid drought and heat. Why is it important for society? Potato is the leading non-grain commodity in the global food system with production exceeding 376 million tonnes in 2016, and the third-largest food crop in terms of human consumption. In the EU in 2015, 53 million tonnes of potatoes were harvested from a production area of 1.6 million hectares with a crop raw value of ca. 10 billion Euro. Its high nutritional content and relative ease of cultivation make potato a critical crop for food security. What are the overall objectives? In our recent previous work, the role of a member of the TERMINAL FLOWER 1/ CENTRORADIALIS gene family (termed StCEN) as a negative control of tuberization was demonstrated for the first time. We aim to investigate how we can exploit this finding to make early maturing potatoes that avoid stresses. We shall use molecular physiology approaches to understand how StCEN acts in the tuberization process and gain further information about tuberization mechanisms. We shall also test the hypothesis that removal of the StCEN tuberization inhibitor could result in protection of tuberization at elevated temperature. Conclusions Protein-protein interaction studies provide new insights into how tuberization in potato is regulated. Tools were developed for detailed analysis of the expression pattern of the StCEN gene. Transcriptomic analysis of transgenic lines mis-expressing StCEN identify early transcriptional events in tuber formation. Preliminary results indicate that down-regulation of StCEN expression is a viable strategy for protecting potato tuber yield at elevated temperature. Preliminary results indicate that naturally occurring allelic variation in StCEN may contribute to variation in the timing of tuber initiation.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
Tuberisation in potato is a major photoperiodic developmental programme in which stolons form starch-rich tubers. The earliness of tuberisation dictates the time to crop maturity and so is a crucial factor in potato agronomy. Exploitation of the naturally occurring variation in tuberisation onset provides a route to breeding improved varieties for different latitudes, harvest times and markets. Recent focus in this field has been on the regulation of a FLOWERING LOCUS T orthologue termed StSP6A, a positive regulator of tuberisation. These studies have facilitated development of tuberisation models. However, data from JHI and other literature suggest that these models are incomplete. Now work at JHI has identified a new player, a TFL-1 orthologue that appears to act as a negative regulator of tuberisation. The aims of POTENT are: to determine the binding partners and detailed expression pattern of TFL-1 in the stolon to develop a refined model of tuber initiation; to use a transcriptomic approach applied to TFL-1 transgenic lines to unravel tuber life cycle processes; to investigate the role of TFL-1 in tolerance to abiotic stress; to determine the combinations of StCDF1 and TFL-1 alleles possessed by potato varieties from different maturity classes, that impact on tuber initiation. The project will serve a training vehicle for the experienced researcher (ER) to enhance her portfolio of research skills, to restart her career and so increase her ability to innovate in this area of food security. The ER will add an extra dimension to current research activities in the host organisation by sharing her current expertise. Working with secondment partner Agrico UK, the outcomes will be of commercial and societal interest and a raft of measures will be taken to protect IPR and disseminate results to wide audiences. The project will leave the ER well-qualified to achieve professional maturity and will have a legacy of collaboration and new research avenues to be explored.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- THE JAMES HUTTON INSTITUTE · InvergowrieCoordinatorUnited Kingdom
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union