A new model for potato tuber initiation and yield development

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.