Sources of valuable agronomic traits among interspecific hybrids developed at VIR and their utilization in potato breeding in the Republic of Belarus

Enhancing the efficiency of potato farming requires continuous development of new highly productive cultivars with a set of valuable agronomic traits. Such work is impossible without a sufficient stock of new, genetically diverse source material for potato breeding. Therefore, expanding, studying, and preserving potato genetic resources collections in the Republic of Belarus is an important task to provide the domestic potato breeding practice with new sources of valuable traits. The objective of this research was to examine interspecific potato hybrids developed at the Potato Genetic Resources Department of the N.I. Vavilov All-Russian Institute of Plant Genetic Resources (VIR) for their key agronomic characters (productivity; resistance to viruses, late blight, and blackleg; starch content; suitability for industrial processing into potato products, etc.) through breeding-oriented assessment and marker analysis searching for effective alleles of genes associated with carbohydrate synthesis.The research identified sources of resistance to the oomycete Phytophthora infestans (Mont.) de Bary, blackleg pathogens, and viruses, as well as sources of high productivity and suitability for industrial processing into potato products after five months of cold storage without reconditioning. The PCR analysis helped to identify hybrids carrying the markers Stp23-8b, InvGF-4d, and InvGF-4b – effective alleles of genes responsible for carbohydrate synthesis in tubers. The identified hybrids are recommended as sources of valuable agronomic traits for potato breeding practice.