AGRE-0001 The Research Development and Production of Low Temperature Storage Tolerant Chipping (Crisping) Potato Cultivars

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Biotechnology : ECLAIR Cluster III - Carbohydrates : Starch

AGRE-0001 The Research Development and Production of Low Temperatures Storage Tolerant Chipping (Crisping) Potato Cultivars 1 June 1991 - 1 June 1992

In the future the potato processing industry will rely more heavily on low temperature storage of potatoes to control sprouting. However, low temperature sweetening of tubers exacerbates the problem of product browning as a consequence of increased Maillard activity. It is therefore of prime importance, that potato cultivars which accumulate commercially acceptable levels of reducing sugars are made available to the industry as soon as possible. Genotypes showing degrees of tolerance to low temperature sweetening are currently available and provide excellent tools for understanding the underlying biochemical mechanisms. However, their other attributes are not as acceptable to the industry as those of the preferred crisping cultivars, it is paramount that consumer preference for specific cultivars is taken into account.

The objective of this project is the cloning of genes which code for enzymes that have a key regulatory effect in the pathways of starch respiration, or sucrose metabolism. These enzymes include alphaamylase, invertase, invertase inhibitor, ATPdependent phosphofructokinase (PFK), and pyrophosphatedependent phosphofructokinase (PFP). The cultivar cells of currently used Chipping Potatoes (e.g. Record, Saturna, Erntestolz, and other promising breeders material), will then be transformed using suitably modified versions of the clones genes. This will be followed by the subsequent study and selection of required traits.

The project involves the application of a wide range of skills in the areas of recombinant DNA technology, methods in enzymology, metabolic biochemistry, and plant physiology. The approach to the project work is divided into the following steps:

1. cloning of the genes. Techniques used include: protein purification and partly

determining its amino acid sequences; using antibodies for identification; using

sequence information or nucleic acid probes from homologous genes from other organisms;

2. Identify regulatory sequences that govern the expression of these genes in the right potato tissues at the right development stage and under suitable cold temperatures;

3. Using the selected genes and regulatory sequences, produce transgenic plants; the genes may be devised either to enhance or to turn off the expression of the corresponding protein;

4. Analyze tubers from the plants for their enzyme activity, their cold induced sweetening, and their processing characteristics.

Contacts

Coordinator

• K J NIGHTINGALE / ECSA Research Limited Swiss Centre / UNITED KINGDOM

EC Scientific Officer

• Joaquim AZCON BIETO / European Commission DG XII E-2 SDME 8/27 / BELGIUM