Breeding a new potato variety is not easy. For starters, whereas most plants have two copies of each gene, potatoes have four. As a result, potatoes have a particularly large and complicated genome. Finally sequenced in 2011, a printout on paper would cover the distance from Melbourne to Cairns! Growing and screening new varieties takes time and space, making it both expensive and slow.

Researchers at the James Hutton Institute in Scotland are fast tracking potato breeding. Using genetic markers, the team have identified new genes for disease resistance as well as the rapid screening techniques to detect them in tiny seedlings. With access to a massive collection of over 1,500 potato varieties, it seems likely the genes for every attribute we need is in there somewhere.

In this podcast, Doctors Ingo Hein, Sanjeev Sharma and Xinwei Chen talk to PotatoLink about their research, and the exciting new world of advanced potato breeding.

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This podcast is part of the Hort Innovation funded project PT20000 Potato Industry Extension and Communications Program. It was funded through the Potato-Processing and Potato-Fresh levy funds and contributions from the Australian Government.

The music for this podcast is "The Beat of Nature" by Olexy, you can access the music here: https://pixabay.com/music/solo-guitar-the-beat-of-nature-122841/