Assessment of genomic DNA sequence variation and genotype calling in autotetraploids implies the ability to distinguish among five possible alternative allele copy number states. This study demonstrates the accuracy of genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) of a large collection of autotetraploid potato cultivars using next-generation sequencing. It is still costly to reach sufficient read depths on a genome wide scale, across the cultivated gene pool. Therefore, we enriched cultivar-specific DNA sequencing libraries using an in-solution hybridisation method (SureSelect). This complexity reduction allowed to confine our study to 807 target genes distributed across the genomes of 83 tetraploid cultivars and one reference (DM 1–3 511). Indexed sequencing libraries were paired-end sequenced in 7 pools of 12 samples using Illumina HiSeq2000. After filtering and processing the raw sequence data, 12.4 Gigabases of high-quality sequence data was obtained, which mapped to 2.1 Mb of the potato reference genome, with a median average read depth of 63× per cultivar. We detected 129,156 sequence variants and genotyped the allele copy number of each variant for every cultivar. In this cultivar panel a variant density of 1 SNP/24 bp in exons and 1 SNP/15 bp in introns was obtained. The average minor allele frequency (MAF) of a variant was 0.14. Potato germplasm displayed a large number of relatively rare variants and/or haplotypes, with 61% of the variants having a MAF below 0.05. A very high average nucleotide diversity (π = 0.0107) was observed. Nucleotide diversity varied among potato chromosomes. Several genes under selection were identified. Genotyping-by-sequencing results, with allele copy number estimates, were validated with a KASP genotyping assay. This validation showed that read depths of ∼60–80× can be used as a lower boundary for reliable assessment of allele copy number of sequence variants in autotetraploids. Genotypic data were associated with traits, and alleles strongly influencing maturity and flesh colour were identified.

Powdery mildew disease caused by Leveillula taurica is a serious fungal threat to greenhouse tomato and pepper production. In contrast to most powdery mildew species which are epiphytic, L. taurica is an endophytic fungus colonizing the mesophyll tissues of the leaf. In barley, Arabidopsis, tomato and pea, the correct functioning of specific homologues of the plant Mlo gene family has been found to be required for pathogenesis of epiphytic powdery mildew fungi. The aim of this study was to investigate the involvement of the Mlo genes in susceptibility to the endophytic fungus L. taurica. In tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), a loss-of-function mutation in the SlMlo1 gene results in resistance to powdery mildew disease caused by Oidium neolycopersici. When the tomato Slmlo1 mutant was inoculated with L. taurica in this study, it proved to be less susceptible compared to the control, S. lycopersicum cv. Moneymaker. Further, overexpression of SlMlo1 in the tomato Slmlo1 mutant enhanced susceptibility to L. taurica. In pepper, the CaMlo2 gene was isolated by applying a homology-based cloning approach. Compared to the previously identified CaMlo1 gene, the CaMlo2 gene is more similar to SlMlo1 as shown by phylogenetic analysis, and the expression of CaMlo2 is up-regulated at an earlier time point upon L. taurica infection. However, results of virus-induced gene silencing suggest that both CaMlo1 and CaMlo2 may be involved in the susceptibility of pepper to L. taurica. The fact that overexpression of CaMlo2 restored the susceptibility of the tomato Slmlo1 mutant to O. neolycopersici and increased its susceptibility to L. taurica confirmed the role of CaMlo2 acting as a susceptibility factor to different powdery mildews, though the role of CaMlo1 as a co-factor for susceptibility cannot be excluded.

Phytophthora infestans, the causal agent of late blight, is a major threat to commercial potato production worldwide. Significant costs are required for crop protection to secure yield. Many dominant genes for resistance (R-genes) to potato late blight have been identified, and some of these R-genes have been applied in potato breeding. However, the P. infestans population rapidly accumulates new virulent strains that render R-genes ineffective. Here we introduce a new class of resistance which is based on the loss-of-function of a susceptibility gene (S-gene) encoding a product exploited by pathogens during infection and colonization. Impaired S-genes primarily result in recessive resistance traits in contrast to recognition-based resistance that is governed by dominant R-genes. In Arabidopsis thaliana, many S-genes have been detected in screens of mutant populations. In the present study, we selected 11 A. thaliana S-genes and silenced orthologous genes in the potato cultivar Desiree, which is highly susceptible to late blight. The silencing of five genes resulted in complete resistance to the P. infestans isolate Pic99189, and the silencing of a sixth S-gene resulted in reduced susceptibility. The application of S-genes to potato breeding for resistance to late blight is further discussed.

We have investigated the genetics and molecular biology of orange flesh colour in potato (Solanum tuberosum L.). To this end the natural diversity in three genes of the carotenoid pathway was assessed by SNP analyses. Association analysis was performed between SNP haplotypes and flesh colour phenotypes in diploid and tetraploid potato genotypes. We observed that among eleven beta-carotene hydroxylase 2 (Chy2) alleles only one dominant allele has a major effect, changing white into yellow flesh colour. In contrast, none of the lycopene epsilon cyclase (Lcye) alleles seemed to have a large effect on flesh colour. Analysis of zeaxanthin epoxidase (Zep) alleles showed that all (diploid) genotypes with orange tuber flesh were homozygous for one specific Zep allele. This Zep allele showed a reduced level of expression. The complete genomic sequence of the recessive Zep allele, including the promoter, was determined, and compared with the sequence of other Zep alleles. The most striking difference was the presence of a non-LTR retrotransposon sequence in intron 1 of the recessive Zep allele, which was absent in all other Zep alleles investigated. We hypothesise that the presence of this large sequence in intron 1 caused the lower expression level, resulting in reduced Zep activity and accumulation of zeaxanthin. Only genotypes combining presence of the dominant Chy2 allele with homozygosity for the recessive Zep allele produced orange-fleshed tubers that accumulated large amounts of zeaxanthin.