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FROM OUR MEMBERS
- Variety information:
Dr SJ Butt from Turkey requested information on several varieties. I found the following information online:
1. Hermes: Go to this page:
2. Resy: Go to this page:
3. Saturna: Go here:
4. Panda: Go here:
5. Van Gogh: Go here:
6. Shepody: Go here:
7. Agria: Go here:
- Effect of Imazethapyr:
Hugo Teyssedou is a potato grower in Argentina. He wants to plant potatoes in a field where he had peanuts the past season. The field was treated with Imazethapyr. He would appreciate any information regarding the potential carry-over effect of Imazethapyr and of course whether it will be harmful for this year's potato crop. He can be reached at
- Altura's russet variety:
Marvin Marjama responded to Bret Severe's request for management information re: Alturas russet. He writes: "In Central Oregon Alturas Russet requires about 120-140 units of N/acre. About 1/3 of the N at planting with the balance through the water after tuber set. Other nutrients as required by soil test. All N should be applied by the end of July. Water use and requirements seems to be about equal to R. Burbank." More information on Alturas can be found on these pages:
- Development of a small unit for removing clods and stones:
Stoyan Ishpekov (PhD) is a researcher at the Plovdiv Agricultural University in Bulgaria. He has some experience in potato harvesters and is researching for developing a small size unit for removal of small sized clods and stones from during harvesting. Suggestions, ideas and collaboration will be very much appreciated. He can be reached at:
- Thio-urea increases tuber yield and starch content in potato:
PRO member Fazal Rehman of the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology
(KRIBB) sent the following information: "We compared and evaluated several chemicals for dormancy breaking on potato microtubers of 3 different cultivars. After dormancy breaking the tubers were planted in the green house to check the subsequent effect of these chemicals on tuber yield and carbohydrate concentration. We observed that the tubers treated with thio-urea produced the highest number of tubers/pot and weight of tubers/pot as compared with other treatments. When we tested the tubers for
starch and sugars, the tubers treated with thio-urea contained the highest starch content as compared with all other treatments in all the cultivars under investigation. The difference between the tubers treated with thio-urea and untreated control was 20.0, 35.0 and 5.0 mg/gm for cultivars Atlantic, Desiree and Diamont respectively. I am interested to continue my research, and if any one interested for collaboration, it will be highly appreciated." Dr Rehman can be reached at:
- Photosynthesis research:
Two of our members recently expressed an interest in photosynthesis research: Mehmet Caliskan and Wayne Tallman. They would like to correspond with others working in this field of research. Wayne is interested in doing some photosynthetic measurements in potatoes receiving different herbicide spray treatments and and foliar nutrient sprays. He can be reached at:
Mehmet Caliskan is interested in photosynthesis research in general. He can be reached at:
I searched the Web in an effort to find useful links to online information regarding potatoes and photosynthesis, and came across the web site of the Center for the Study of Early Events in Photosynthesis at the Arizona State University. This is a useful site about photosynthesis in general - the site can be found on this page:
This site contains several sections that should be of interest, including a so-called "Nicelist", which is a list of names and e-mail addresses of researchers world wide working in the field of photosynthesis. The Nicelist also contains a listing of journals and societies, as well as online information of commercial suppliers relevant to the study of photosynthesis. The Nicelist can be found here:
Photochemistry and Photobiology Online is another possible source of online information regarding photosynthesis - it is published by the American Society for Photobiology and can be accessed on this page:
"The Photosynthetic Process" is an excellent scientific article by John Whitmarsh and Govindjee (Photosynthesis Research Unit, Agricultural Research Service/USDA, Department of Plant Biology and Center of Biophysics and Computational Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign). It was published in "Concepts in Photobiology: Photosynthesis and Photomorphogenesis". The paper can be found on this page:
The following abstracts of scientific papers regarding potatoes and photosynthesis can be found online:
1. A paper entitled "Photosynthesis, nutrient-use and yield of old and modern varieties of potato
(Solanum tuberosum L. ssp. tuberosum)" can be found here:
2. A paper entitled "Effect of nitrogen supply on leaf growth, leaf nitrogen economy and photosynthetic capacity in potato" was published in 1998 by Vos, J. & P.E.L. van der Putten. - More information might be obtained from one of the authors - please go to this page:
3. "Does elevated CO2 ameliorate the impact of O3 on chlorophyll content and photosynthesis in potato
(Solanum tuberosum)?" This study examined the impact of season-long exposure to elevated carbon dioxide (CO2) and ozone (O3), individually and in combination, on leaf chlorophyll content and gas exchange characteristics in potato (Solanum tuberosum L. cv. Bintje). Abstract on this page:
4. "Adjustment of net photosynthesis in Solanum tuberosum in response to switching ambient and elevated CO2 partial pressures" is an abstract of a study done by researchers Richard C Sicher
(Jr) and James A Bunce. Abstract and contact information on this page:
- Apoptosis in potato?
Leila Faravardeh of the Institute of Biochemistry & Biophysics in Teheran, Iran, posted a message
on the PRO bulletin board, asking: "Is there anyone that knows about apoptosis in potato, in
another words if apoptosis occurs in potato or not?". Anyone who might want to communicate with
Leila can reach her at:
I found the following information online regarding potatoes and apoptosis and hope that it will be of
interest:
1. In a paper by Anna O. Avrova, Gary D. Lyon and Paul R. J. Birch (1999, entitled:
"NucleotideSequence of a Potato Serine Palmitoyltransferasen Gene which is Up-Regulated in the Incompatible Interaction with Phytophthora infestans" (PGR99-111) Plant Physiol. 120: 1206, it is stated that "evidence has suggested that the localised cell death of the hypersensitive response (HR) is similar to a programmed cell death (PCD) process called apoptosis in animals. Many of the morphological features of apoptosis are observed in the HR (Heath, 1998), and signaling/signal transduction processes, such as protein phosphorylation, production of reactive oxygen species and ion fluxes are common to plant and animal PCD (Pontier et al., 1998)." You will find the full paper on this page: The corresponding author is Dr Birch, Scottish Crop Research Institute
2. The following paper should also be of interest: "Novel potato genes involved in defence against Phytophthora infestans are implicated in apoptosis". More on this page:
- Potato R genes:
Li Xianping is breeding for resistance to Late Blight in potato. He would like to have information on potato R genes, especially the new R genes. He wants to know if other R genes have been mapped on chromosomes (except R1, 2, 3, 6, and 7). He will appreciate it if colleagues could send him information on this. Li can be reached at:
I found the following abstract of a paper by G. M. Sanchez, C. D. Smart, I. Simko, M.
Bonierbale, E. E. Ewing, G. May, A. Greenland, and W. E. Fry, entitled: "Identification of two new R-genes to Phytophthora infestans from Solanum berthaultii". The paper was presented at the 92nd annual meeting of the American Phytopathological Society (August 2000) and can be found on this page:
- Harvester development
Hector Emili, Elisa Gustafson, Daniel Rojas, Jorge Larriqueta, Luis Emili are professors at the Cuyo National University, College of Agriculture in Argentina. They are involved in a research project that aims at developing a harvester that leaves less small potatoes in the field than those harvester currently in use by farmers in Brazil. The project is funded by the local seed certification agency (a government agency). Colleagues elsewhere (or machine manufacturers) with experience in this regard are welcome to get in touch with Hector Emili and Elisa Gustafson at:
- "Solanum phureja"
Solanum phureja is a diploid cultivated potato. It is important in potato breeding because many accessions of this species have valuable resistance to several important biotic and abiotic stresses (e.g., late blight, bacterial wilt, and nematodes) and produce tubers that have good culinary properties. The species is distributed in a long, narrow strip along the eastern slope of the Andes from Colombia to Bolivia. Export Internacional Ltda, based in Colombia, processes Solanum phureja and is working to commercialize the consumption of this yellow potato in foreign markets. According to a spokesperson of the company, Solanum phureja is also known as “papa
criolla”, “yellow potato” or “egg yolk potato”. It is marketed as a specialty potato in precooked and frozen, pickled and canned form. Interested individuals can get in touch with María A. Blanco of Export Internacional Ltda at:
- True Potato Seed (TPS)
Kamal O. Zunzunwala is the Director of Bejo Sheetal Seeds in Jalna, India. His company is a provider of True Potato Seed. According to Mr Zunzunwala, TPS is the new revolutionary product for growing potatoes from botanical seeds, and has distinct advantages compared with conventional methods of planting potato tubers. Seed requirements per hectare is only 100
gms, compared with the requirement of potato tubers of 2 - 2.5 tons per hectare and hence reduces the cost of cultivation considerably. According to him, TPS is free from diseases and has excellent field tolerance to late blight. Transportation and storage costs of seed are very low. There are two methods of potato cultivation using TPS: By growing potatoes directly from TPS by transplanting seedlings produced from TPS, or by first producing small seedling tubers from TPS, and then using the seedling tubers for sowing in the next season. Mr Zunzunwala notes that TPS has a big future in developing countries, as growers in these countries often import seed potato tubers at a very high price and there is not always a guarantee of timely delivery. His company invites interested individuals to get in touch for free TPS samples to be used in trails, and information on proper cultivation methods of TPS. He can be reached at:
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