Expression of reducing sugar accumulation in interspecific somatic hybrids of potato

A somatic hybridisation programme was undertaken to evaluate the expression of reducing sugar accumulation in potato. Interspecific hybrids created between the Solanum tuberosum cultivar Record and the diploid species Solanum phureja were evaluated at the morphological and molecular levels. These analyses indicated that the protoplast regenerants were partial (asymmetric) hybrids which had undergone elimination of S. phureja chromosomes. Tubers of the parents exhibited significant differences for reducing sugar accumulation during cold storage with S. phureja having lower levels of glucose and fructose than Record. The somatic hybrids resembled the S. phureja parent in terms of reducing sugar accumulation demonstrating that low reducing sugar accumulation is dominant to high reducing sugar accumulation in these particular genotypes. These results are discussed in relation to the exploitation of asymmetric hybridisation for the production of potato genotypes for the potato processing industry.