Biotechnological Approaches to Improve Potato: Review Article

Abstract

This article was planned to summarize available information's on biotechnological approaches to improve potato. The potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is a major world food crop. It gives an exceptionally high yield and also produces more edible energy and protein per unit area and time than many other crops. The developed countries make the most diversified use of potatoes as food, feed and raw material for processed products, starch and alcohol, while the developing countries are increasingly adopting potato cultivation primarily as a food crop. Potato is propagated by both sexually (using true potato seed) and asexually (vegetatively). Conventional propagation of potato is done vegetatively using seed tubers which ensure uniformity of the crop in terms of growth and yield, but results in degeneration of the crop due to virus infection. The availability of tissue culture technology for rapid multiplication of disease free planting material has facilitated potato seed production to a great extent. Potato is an ideal crop for the introduction of traits using biotechnology. Conventional potato breeding as it is practiced worldwide is an inefficient, slow process that has changed little in the past century. Potato breeding efforts have historically focused on yield, fresh market and processing quality, and storability as well as disease resistance. Genetic variation for these traits in commercial cultivars is low, but related wild species contain many traits not found in cultivars and represent an especially rich source of disease resistance and tuber quality genes. Combining tuber quality traits desired by consumers and processors with the agronomic performance and disease resistance preferred by farmers remains the most significant challenge in potato breeding. Fortunately, the tremendous amount of genetic diversity in wild and cultivated relatives of potato allows for relatively easy identification, isolation, and introduction of new genes for a specific trait using biotechnology.

Keywords: Biotech potato, Genetic modification, Biotechnology, True potato seed, Seed tubers