Phenotypic variability, genetic diversity and association mapping in potatoes to heat tolerance traits

• Grant number: 23/02479-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: April 01, 2023
• End date: October 27, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Genetics - Plant Genetics
• Principal Investigator: Fernando Angelo Piotto
• Grantee: Givanildo Rodrigues da Silva
• Host Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 22/03224-6 - Diploid potato breeding: a new proposal for tropical potato crop in Brazil, AP.PNGP.PI
• Associated scholarship(s): 23/10518-9 - Genetic diversity and genomic population structure of potato clones (Solanum tuberosum L.) developed in Brazil, BE.EP.DR

Abstract

Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is a food consumed fresh or processed, in the form of chips or fries, and the search for more stable cultivars in adverse conditions has been a worldwide demand. Thus, the search for more productive cultivars that are tolerant to the stress caused by heat in tropical conditions has been the objective of researches that looking for production superiority in other regions. Thus, the candidate's objective is to carry out field experiments, at three different harvest, to indicate promising potato accessions to recombination for heat tolerance, based on genetic and phenotypic characteristics. The studies will be based on: (i) evaluating the genetic diversity present in a potato germplasm bank, based on genetic markers of the SNP type (single nucleotide polymorphism) and; (ii) indicate promising genome regions for heat stress tolerance traits through associative genetic mapping (GWAS - genome wide association study) using phenotypic traits obtained from high-throughput phenotyping methodologies. In this way, it is expecting to contribute to the understanding of the structure and genetic characteristics involved in the response to this stress, to indicate potential accessions, as well as promising brands to aid in the selection assisted by markers to obtain potato cultivars that are more productive and tolerant to this condition stress so eminent and problematic for this specie.