Potato Research最新文献

To obtain comprehensive insight into metabolic changes in potato seed tubers during storage and to identify patterns associated with physiological ageing, we analysed tuber metabolite composition using untargeted metabolomics based on gas and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS and LC-MS). During two seasons, seed tubers of four contrasting cultivars (Agria, Festien, Innovator, and Lady Claire) were produced in a single field and after harvest, stored at different temperatures. During storage, the number of detected secondary metabolites increased progressively, particularly at higher temperatures (7-17 ˚C). Principal component analysis (PCA) revealed clear cultivar-specific metabolic profiles, with the starch cultivar Festien distinctly separated from the consumption cultivars, primarily caused by different amino acid composition. PCA further highlighted the impact of cold storage (4 ˚C) on primary metabolism, especially the accumulation of reducing sugars, as well as the combined effects of storage duration and elevated temperature on secondary metabolites, notably glycoalkaloids. Factor analysis (FA) supported these findings, with most metabolites strongly associated with the factor distinguishing cv. Festien from the other cultivars. Additionally, the leading factors captured cultivar-specific patterns and diverse trajectories reflecting the effects of storage duration and temperature. Together, these results provide a comprehensive overview of metabolic dynamics during storage and contribute to understanding the functional roles of metabolites in tuber physiological ageing.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11540-026-10083-2.

The introduction of hybrid true potato seeds (hybrid TPS) offers multiple new ways for seed or ware tuber production in potato, including field-sowing. As opposed to the use of nursery raised seedlings for field-transplanting, which is extensively studied and reported as a practical option for seed or ware production, field-sowing of hybrid TPS is a promising opportunity of which the feasibility for use has not been exhaustively investigated. Field-sowing may be more cost effective as it does not require nursery seedling production. This paper assesses the possibilities of using a field-sown hybrid TPS cultivation system for seed and ware production. First, the critical phases of the system to come to yield formation are defined, namely seed germination, seedling emergence, and plantlet establishment, based on a review. Second, observations and results collected in 20 studies over the course of 4 years indicate that various factors including seed quality and treatment, physical soil properties, soil moisture, weather, and the application and timing of crop management practices all significantly influenced the success of a field-sown crop. The uptake of field-sowing of hybrid TPS for seed or ware tuber production will benefit from improvements in plantlet establishment ratios by improved seed quality and enhanced agronomic practices and technologies. Genetic improvements are beneficial to trigger yield increase in general, and specifically enhance the crop's early vigour. An important aspect in shaping the future for potato as a field-sown crop is the need to support growers with advice based on experimentation with field-sown TPS in addition to grower's own experiences growing potato from hybrid TPS or other small-seeded field crops.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11540-025-09889-3.

Potatoes are an essential crop cultivated in numerous regions around the globe, but they frequently get impacted by diseases that lower their production and quality. To ensure the crop reaches its maximum potential, controlling the diseases in the initial or early stages is necessary. Recent developments in deep learning algorithms have demonstrated significant improvements in predicting agricultural diseases at various stages. However, contemporary deep learning models frequently exhibit real-world performance and generalization capabilities limitations. This study proposes an ensemble convolutional neural network model that combines the three most widely used models, VGG16, MobileNetV2, and ResNet50, to increase generalizability and improve accuracy in the classification of potato crop diseases. The proposed model is trained on a large dataset containing 6644 images of potato leaves, which is constructed by merging three different publicly available datasets. These datasets are originally collected from three distinct locations around the globe (the USA, Ethiopia, and Pakistan). The model aims to achieve improvement in accuracy and maintain generalizability for classifying potato fungal diseases. The proposed ensemble architecture achieved an accuracy of 98.49%, surpassing the individual models. In this study, a web-based interface is developed for the evaluation of the model. The proposed model is tested on this web interface with the images obtained through the Google Image Search Engine. A plant pathologist supervised the selection of images and the pre-processing of the dataset. The results of the evaluation indicate that the model will perform better when deployed in real-world situations.

Potato (Solanum tuberosum) is a major staple food crop susceptible to numerous pathogens and pests. Utilising biotic elicitors offers a promising integrative approach for crop management, potentially reducing losses and chemical treatments. One such elicitor, an inactive suspension of Xanthomonas axonopodis (XTH), has previously been shown to enhance potato resistance against pathogens, like the bacterium causing blackleg disease. However, the underlying mechanism of this resistance remains unclear. Thus, this study investigated the effect of XTH on the defence metabolism in potato plants and compared it to the response elicited by exogenous salicylic acid (SA), a well-known defence-signalling molecule. We analysed the expression of marker genes for defence response pathways, including JA/ET-responsive genes (StPin2, StERF1, and StJAZ1/TIFY10A-like) and SA-responsive genes (StPR-1b, StPR-2, and StChtA). Potato plants were treated with either SA and XTH, and both treated and systemic leaves were analysed. XTH upregulated all analysed genes locally and systemically within the first 24 h, except for StChtA. The XTH-mediated upregulation of StPAL and Pin2 genes suggests this elicitor might trigger responses via the jasmonic acid pathway. Exogenous application of SA induced the systemic expression of StPR, StChtA, StJAZ1/TIFY10A-like, and StERF in potato plants. Our results indicate that XTH modulates the expression of defence-related genes in potato plants by simultaneously activating both the salicylic acid and jasmonic acid signalling pathways. This dual activation suggests that XTH could be a valuable resource for crop management in potato cultivation, potentially reducing the need for chemical pesticides.

The root lesion nematode (RLN), Pratylenchus penetrans (Cobb) Filipjev and Schuurmans-Stekhoven, a migratory endo-parasite has impacted potato yield and tuber’s quality across the world including Pakistan. The present study was designed to investigate the susceptibility of 16 potato cultivars to P. penetrans under screen house and field conditions. Population densities of P. penetrans in roots, soils and tuber peels of each cultivar were assessed. Findings revealed that three potato cultivars Lal Moti, Rodeo, and Raco were found “Resistant”, six cultivars Semi, Pirol, Ronaldo, Abelia, 5-Zena red and L-R were found “Moderately Resistant” and remaining cultivars were found “Moderately Susceptible or Susceptible”. Significantly (P = 0.00) lower number of nematode larvae or adults was observed within roots (53.75) and 100 g tubers peel (10.0) of cultivar Lal Moti. A marked reduction in the number of necrotic lesions per root system (1.25), 100 g tuber peel (3.0) and minute size necrotic lesions on tubers (1.06) and root system (0.62) were evident in cultivar Lal Moti. It was the only cultivar that sustained high inoculum pressure under field conditions, restricted the reproduction factor (Rf = 0.02) of RLN in roots and yielded significantly higher number of tubers (13.1 per plant) with maximum yield (35.5 g per three random tubers) as compared to Rodeo, Raco and L-R cultivars. A strong negative correlation between the number of egressed nematodes from peels or soil and weights of potato cultivars was evident with r = − 0.97 and − 0.87 under screen house and field conditions, respectively. Cultivar resistance offers a potential sustainable solution for the migratory RLN in potatoes and could be effectively integrated into nematode management strategies.