LWV22233 Cold stress in potato (ColSol): unravelling stress tolerance mechanisms for climate resilient potatoes (TS-02-227-019)

Potato is the most important non-grain food crop globally. Originating in the equatorial Andes, potatoes have adapted to various environments in South and Middle America, resulting in diverse stress tolerance. However, modern potato varieties are still vulnerable to abiotic stresses like temperature and drought.

Cold temperature is a significant but under-researched stress affecting potato production. Late planting can reduce early-season cold stress, but early planting combined with cold tolerance offers benefits such as a longer growing season, higher yields, additional cropping cycles in northern regions, and avoidance of summer heat and drought in southern areas. Cold tolerance is crucial for true potato seeds, an emerging technology for growing diploid and tetraploid hybrids. Despite global warming, extreme weather events, including early-season cold temperatures, are increasing.

The ColSol project aims to study cold stress effects on potato development using high-throughput phenotyping (HTP) and genetic approaches. The project will utilize diverse plant materials from universities, genebanks, and industry partners. Initial research will focus on in vitro plantlets and seedlings' response to low temperatures, allowing detailed investigation of over 150 genotypes using HTP facilities. Subsequent studies will examine cold stress during tuberisation and bulking stages, with multi-location and multi-year field trials assessing the stress's impact.

The project's goals include deepening the biological understanding of cold stress tolerance in potatoes and providing leads for breeding stress-tolerant varieties through hybrid and conventional breeding methods.