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Abstract

Potato is the most widely consumed tuber crop globally, yet breeding progress is limited by its complex, highly heterozygous, and often tetraploid genome. Traditional clonal propagation increases costs and disease risks, while the lack of inbred lines makes hybrid breeding difficult. The Upotato Plan aims to transform potato into a seed-propagated diploid crop that can be improved through modern hybrid breeding strategies. However, hidden deleterious mutations in the heterozygous genome have posed a major obstacle. To address this, we assembled a phased pangenome using 31 genetically diverse diploid potato accessions, including wild species and indigenous cultivars. This resource reveals extensive haplotype diversity and enables accurate detection of deleterious single nucleotide polymorphism (dSNPs) and deleterious structural variants (dSV). Notably, we discovered a “broken window” effect in the genome, where deleterious SNPs accumulate near harmful structural variants, compounding genetic burden. To reduce this load, we computationally designed “ideal haplotypes” with minimal harmful mutations, offering a powerful framework for precise parental selection and accelerated breeding. Our work demonstrates that phased pangenomes are essential for understanding potato genomic diversity and for guiding next-generation breeding strategies that can overcome long-standing barriers in potato improvement.

Details

1010268
Title
Phased Pangenomes Empower Potato Breeding
Author
Number of pages
116
Publication year
2025
Degree date
2025
School code
0422
Source
DAI-A 87/6(E), Dissertation Abstracts International
ISBN
9798270216597
University/institution
Universite de Liege (Belgium)
University location
Belgium
Degree
Ph.D.
Source type
Dissertation or Thesis
Language
English
Document type
Dissertation/Thesis
Dissertation/thesis number
32373146
ProQuest document ID
3283377221
Document URL
https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/phased-pangenomes-empower-potato-breeding/docview/3283377221/se-2?accountid=208611
Copyright
Database copyright ProQuest LLC; ProQuest does not claim copyright in the individual underlying works.
Database
ProQuest One Academic