Date: Monday, October 16, 2023
Time: 3:00 pm
Speaker: Simon Fraher, PhD Introduction Seminar
Title: Combining Traditional and Modern Breeding Strategies in the NCSU Sweetpotato Breeding Program
Host: Dr. Craig YenchoLocation: 121 Kilgore / Hybrid
Join Zoom Meeting: https://ncsu.zoom.us/j/91258818866?pwd=NVZycEZFY0NZZmN0N3ArSWhaSFhTdz09
Meeting ID: 912 5881 8866
Passcode: 618866

Abstract:
The North Carolina sweetpotato industry is the largest in the United States. As domestic and worldwide demand increases, new pressures threaten the industry. The arrival of the guava root-knot nematode, Meloidogyne enterolobii, has devastated growers, especially after an internal quarantine placed in NC in 2018. The NCSU sweetpotato breeding program has made tremendous breeding progress for resistance to this new pest since its introduction. In addition, the program has worked to breed for resistance to the southern root-knot nematode (M. incognita), and has strived to maintain resistance to other pathogens that have been largely controlled by resistance, including Fusarium wilt disease and Streptomyces soil pox.

While traditional breeding methods have been largely successful in controlling these pathogens, modern breeding strategies have rapidly accelerated breeding success. The development of molecular markers for guava and southern root-knot nematode has cut several years off the breeding cycle in the NCSU sweetpotato breeding program. Promising new results for Fusarium wilt disease may also result in markers for resistance. These traits, which appear to be controlled by one or a few tightly linked genes, have been explored using QTL analysis. For other traits that are harder to measure, or are likely controlled by many genes, more complex breeding strategies will be required. These include yield, shape, root length and diameter, skin color, and more. Genomic selection is a promising new strategy that may help elucidate the genetic components controlling for these complex traits in this highly heterozygous polyploid crop.