Screening for Resistance to PVY in Australian Potato Germplasm

Potatoes are an important human food crop, but have a number of yield limiting factors, including disease susceptibility. Potato virus Y (PVY) is found worldwide, and is one of the main virus problems for potato growers. PVY is transmitted by aphids and mechanically by machinery, tools and people, and symptoms are variable across cultivars and strains, including being symptomless in some cultivars. Therefore, breeding resistant cultivars is the best way to control this virus. This study phenotypically screened 74 of the main commercial cultivars and a few other select cultivars grown in Australia, in order to identify sources of resistance to PVY. The cultivars were screened against PVY^O and PVY^NTN, with 23 out of 71 resistant to PVY^O and 13 out of 74 resistant to PVY^NTN, and all these 13 were resistant to both strains. When the phenotypic screening was compared to the results listed on the European Cultivated Potato Database, the majority of results were found to be consistent. We then evaluated three molecular markers RYSC3, M45, and STM0003 for the extreme resistance genes Ry and Ry to validate the usefulness of the markers for marker-assisted selection (MAS) on Australian germplasm. The degree of correlation between the resistance phenotypes and the RYSC3, M45, and STM0003 markers for Ry and Ry conferred PVY resistance was determined. Three cultivars amplified the RYSC3 marker, while the M45 marker amplified the same 3 and an additional 9. Of the 12 cultivars, 11 phenotyped as resistant, but 1 was susceptible. The STM0003 marker was amplified from only 2 cultivars that both had resistant phenotypes. The RYSC3, M45, and STM0003 markers were therefore able to identify all the 13 cultivars that were resistant to both strains of PVY. Therefore, these markers will enable the identification of genotypes with resistance to PVY, and enable PVY resistant parents to be used for the development of superior progeny; these genetic markers can be used for MAS in the Australian potato breeding program.