Selecting for Success: What’s the Buzz about Potato Pollinations?
Updated: Dec 12, 2024
When we talk about pollination, buzzing bees often steal the spotlight. However, in the world of potato breeding, a different buzzing tool is used– the electric toothbrush. But why, you might ask?
The pollen on potato flowers has its challenges in pollinations. It clings to the anthers, making it difficult to collect for breeding purposes. To work around this issue, potato breeders at the Cornell University Potato Breeding Program and similar institutions across the country use electric toothbrushes. These vibrating devices are carefully placed on potato flowers, helping to dislodge and collect the stubborn pollen into a collection tube. This process is done on all clones considered for use as a potential male parent in the breeding program for the season.
Simultaneously, the female parent potato clones are being grown. Once these plants flower, pollinations begin. Pollen gathered earlier is carefully shaken into the cap of the collection tube. Then the stigma of each flower is gently dipped into this pollen. Each pollinated flower cluster is labeled with the appropriate tag, an important step in ensuring the identity of the cross done on each flower.
The successful pollinations form small berries that look like small green tomatoes. However, these berries have an affinity for dropping from the plant, making them unusable because their cross is unidentifiable. To prevent the valuable crosses from being lost, paper bags are carefully placed over the berry-bearing clusters. In this protective covering, the berries are safely collected and harvested. Once harvested, seeds from these berries will be put into storage to be planted the following growing season.
In 2023, the Cornell breeding program made several crosses with a specific goal in mind: developing potato varieties resistant to the pale cyst nematode (Globodera pallida). One of the standout sources of resistance in this endeavor is the variety Innovator because it has relatively higher levels of resistance compared to other varieties. This is attributed to the presence of the Gpa5 resistance gene. Innovator is a successful parent with 25 named varieties as its progeny. By incorporating Innovator in their breeding crosses, the program aims to create new potato clones that not only have resistance to nematodes but also exhibit favorable agronomic traits.
This blog was originally posted to PAPAS website at https://potatonematodes.org/
Supported by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture award number 2022-51181-38450
This post really got me thinking about my own little gardening adventures. Last summer, I tried my hand at growing a few different varieties of tomatoes, all from seed. I was so excited to see them grow, but I honestly had no idea about the intricacies of pollination. I remember one day noticing some really strange-looking fruit developing on one of the plants, and I couldn't figure out why https://www.monash.edu/ It turned out I'd inadvertently cross-pollinated two very different heirlooms, and the resulting tomato was… well, let's just say it was an experiment in texture and flavor that I probably won't repeat! It just goes to show how much happens behind the scenes, even with something as seemingly simple as…
This is such a fascinating deep dive into potato pollinations and how we approach selecting for success! It really got me thinking about how our daily habits can directly influence what we deem successful outcomes. I honestly wish I had stumbled upon this perspective when I was first starting out on my own journey with cultivating better practices. The way you've broken down the process is incredibly clear and insightful https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/ You've definitely set a high bar for future discussions on this topic, and I'll be bookmarking this article for sure, returning to it often. It’s inspiring to see such well-articulated thoughts that resonate so deeply. It makes me wonder if there are other areas where this principle of aligning…