Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1959. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 36-39).

Thesis (M.S.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1992. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 53-54). Also available via the Internet.

Potato haploids have been recent components in protoplast fusion research, strategies to combine wild and cultivated potato germplasm and the generation of economically valuable mutant phenotypes. Additionally, most major genetic mapping and QTL analyses in potato have utilized haploid germplasm to simplify linkage-mapping computations. The accuracy of genetic assumptions concerning the randomness and genetic purity of haploid genomes may directly affect the statistical validity of many results in current potato research. In the present study, AFLP analysis was conducted on two sibling S. phureja "BARD 1-3" monoploid populations derived by androgenesis in anther culture, and gynogenesis through the use of a haploid-inducing pollinator, S. phureja "IVP 101." Little indication of somaclonal variation and haploid-inducer gene introgression was found in the monoploid band data suggesting genomic stability. Segregation of marker alleles that were heterozygous in the parent was distorted from the expected 1:1 ratio in both populations, ranging from 35% in the gynogenic monoploids (GM) to 46% in the androgenic monoploids (AM). Genetic diversity appeared more random among the monoploid populations after skewed marker data was removed from phylogenetic analyses. Bilateral and unilateral marker skewness in the monoploid populations may respectively indicate common and unique segregation distorting loci (SDL) present in the AM and GM genomes. Representatives of both SDL types were located on a partial linkage map created using androgenic monoploid data. / Master of Science

Anther culture experiments were conducted to construct a monoploid family. The donor plants used were hybrids between high leptine producing selections of Solanum chacoense Bitt. and anther culture responsive selections of Solanum phureja Juz. et Buk. Several steps of the anther culture process were studied. The results indicated that genotype remains the main factor affecting anther culture response. Growing anther-donor plants in higher greenhouse temperatures (30 degrees C day/20 degrees C night) increased the number of embryos per anther by 40 percent. A heat shock given to anthers in culture for 12h at 35 degrees C was also found to be beneficial resulting in an increase of the anther culture response by 40 percent. However the effect of the high temperature shock resulted in lower regeneration rates. In all experiments a highly significant "date" effect was observed with one or two days differing from the others by showing higher response rates in all hybrids tested. The majority of the regenerated plants was diploid, probably resulting from unreduced gametes. Simple sequence repeat analysis with eight polymorphic primer pairs was used successfully to identify the homozygous diploid plants that were added to the monoploids. In total 34 monoploid plants and 14 homozugous diploids were obtained. The degree of heterozygosity revealed by SSR analysis indicated that the diploid plants originated from unreduced gametes formed by first division restitution (FDR) mechanism. The SSR marker data were used to map the genes with respect to the centromeres by half tetrad analysis. SSR-containing sequences from the public databases, as well as sequences obtained from a genomic library enriched for SSRs, were used to generate 48 primer pairs. Only 12 of them were found to be polymorphic in the monoploid family. Ten primer pairs did not amplify any specific fragment. The monoploid population showed distorted segregation at four of the polymorphic loci, showing overrepresentation of the chacoense alleles in three of them. One of the loci showing distorted segregation (STSTP, amplified by primer pair RV 11+12) is most probably linked to lethal alleles, whereas another one (ST13ST, amplified by primer pair RV 21+22) could be linked to genes affecting anther-culture response. The location of the SSR loci on the potato chromosomes is not known except for one (waxy, primer pair 3+4), but statistical analysis on the segregation data obtained from 70 heterozygous anther-derived diploids showed no linkage between them. The SSR primer pairs developed in this study might be useful in studying genetic relationships among cultivars and accessions in breeding programs. Randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis was used in association with bulked segregant analysis to detect linkage with genes controlling leptine biosynthesis. With all the limitations imposed by the population size and contamination from foreign pollen, a band amplified by primer OPA-16 could differentiate the bulks contrasting for leptine content. It is possible that this band is linked to genes suppressing leptine biosynthesis, since it appears only in the plants that do not synthesize leptines. Further investigation with larger populations is needed to confirm this possibility. / Ph. D.

Anther-derived monoploids of Solanum phureja were utilized to investigate factors essential to an efficient method of regenerating doubled monoploids (DMs). The presence of silver thiosulfate (STS) in the MS basal medium did not affect the frequency of cells with 2x nuclei but increased the proportion of cells with 1x nuclei and decreased the proportion with 4x nuclei. Results indicated that STS lower the occurrence of endopolyploid nuclei. The production of DMs was not affected by the presence of STS in MS basal medium on which the source of leaf explants was maintained. The incubation of leaf cultures in the dark or light during the callus induction phase did not influence the subsequent regenerative ability of the monoploids. However, there was a significant genotype by incubation condition interaction. Overnight incubation on MS medium with benzyladenine (BA) pulse prior to transfer to regeneration medium did not affect regeneration. Field evaluation showed various responses of DMs in terms of growth and yield compared to their anther donors or corresponding F₁ progeny. Female fertility was observed in a majority of the DMs verifying their applicability as parental genotypes in practical breeding. Efforts to generate potato hybrids based on selection of genetically diverse parents using RAPD markers and to develop high yielding diploid potato germplasm that may be instrumental in new cultivar development were addressed. Genetic diversity among in vitro plantlets of S. phureja monoploids (which represent DM maternal genotypes) and diploid heterozygous pollinators (ID lines) was estimated using RAPD markers. Field evaluation revealed significant differences among fourteen F₁ hybrids of S. phureja DM x ID with respect to total tuber number, total tuber yield, average tuber weight and vigor. Using simple matching or Jaccard coefficients, the largest parental genetic distance was associated with the highest total tuber yield among the progenies of DM parents. Based on our results, RAPDs have the potential to facilitate the identification of diverse parents to maximize the expression of heterosis in S. phureja hybrids. SSR markers were used to analyze the genetic composition of anther-derived potato plants. Anther-derived monoploids exhibited a single allele as expected. Both homozygous and heterozygous diploids were identified. SSRs were also utilized to study allelic segregation in an F₁ population. Results of this experiment revealed Mendelian inheritance of SSR alleles. / Ph. D.

Inbred lines for hybrid crop production have been a mainstay of plant breeding. Biotechnological approaches to hasten the process are available including anther culture to halve the genome and protoplast fusion to create hybrids between incompatible partners. We applied these techniques to potato to evaluate their potential for breeding highly heterozygous, cross-pollinating species. Four families of monoploids (2n=1x=12), developed from diploid hybrids with diverse genomic constitutions but heavily favoring Solanum phureja, a primitive cultivated potato, were used in electrofusion experiments to create intermonoploid somatic hybrids (SH). The "monoploid sieve" results in the survival of only those gametes free of lethal and deleterious genes but generates sterile sporophytes, necessitating protoplast fusion for SH development. From six intermonoploid electrofusion combinations, 276 plants were regenerated over 6-9 months. Fusion conditions were optimized. Ploidy was determined by flow-cytometry and SH confirmed by microsatellite analysis. Field evaluations over three years revealed that intermonoploid SH were inferior to cultivars. Dihaploids derived by anther culture of a tetraploid intermonoploid SH were reduced in vigor with an increase in homozygosity, while 2x X 2x sexually derived populations had better yield than the SH, suggesting that producing SH introduced or eliminated factors required for productivity. Molecular analysis of the SH was conducted to examine genomic stability through protoplast isolation and plant regeneration. Sequence specific amplified polymorphism (S-SAP) represents a hybrid system incorporating amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) technology in conjunction with the use of a defined genomic sequence, e.g., retrotransposon display (RD) when the defined sequence is anchored into a consensus sequence of a retrotransposon such as the long terminal repeat (LTR) sequence of Tst1. Parental monoploids, SH and various Solanaceae were evaluated by RD. Fluorescently-labeled retrotransposon-based primers were used in the ALFexpress automated fragment analyzer system. Eleven probes from RD were created for Southern blot analysis and used to verify taxonomic relationships between selected Solanaceae. Blots of intermonoploid somatic hybrids confirmed hybridity and occasional loss of genomic fragments. No activation or replication of retrotransposons was detected. Sequencing of inter-retrotransposon amplified polymorphism (IRAP) and S-SAP fragments revealed that all fragments had the expected Tst1 retroelement and/or the AFLP adaptor sequence. BLAST analysis identified 4 of the 17 fragments sequenced as part of the chloroplast genome, a tobacco anther-specific gene, repetitive DNA, and the phytochrome F gene. / Ph. D.

The variation for embryo production in anther culture of Solanum phureja was examined as a function of maximum greenhouse temperature prior to bud harvest and innate responsiveness among anthers within a bud. S. phureja clones PP5, AD2-4, A3P2-6 and AD3-4 were grown in a greenhouse under a 16 h photoperiod. The temperature was monitored continuously using a thermograph. Buds were collected from PPS and AD2-4 and the anthers were cultured in two groups of five flasks. In the first group, each flask contained the 30 anthers from 6 buds; the second group, each flask contained 1 anther from each of 30 buds -- a total of 30 anthers per flask. Significantly smaller coefficients of variation were observed for the second group, suggesting that the variation for embryogenic capacity among buds was greater than that among anthers within a bud. Variation in embryo yield as a function of greenhouse temperature for clones A3P2-6 and AD3-4 was examined by stepwise regression analysis. Embryogenic capacity of clone A3P2-6 was adversely affected by high temperatures (31-37°C) that occurred 2 and 7 days before bud harvest. However similarly high temperatures appeared to enhance the androgenic response of clone AD3-4. Regeneration rate of anther-derived embryos over three subcultures to fresh regeneration medium was examined as a function of anther donor or clone, cold pretreatment of embryos, and morphological classification of embryos. Only clonal origin significantly affected regeneration. Regeneration rate declined on each serial subculture. The frequency of regenerable embryos varied from 12.5% for clone BARD 1-3 to 46.0% for clone A3P2-6. Flow cytometric analyses were performed on several anther-derived monoploids of S. phureja to examine the frequency of nuclei at the 1x, 2x, and 4x levels within and among clones. Significant variation was found among duplicate cultures of the individual clones, but this variation was small enough to allow the detection of significant differences among the clones. Monoploid cell frequency ranged from 22.3% to 35.7%. Diploid cell frequency ranged from 48.6% to 59.9%. Tetraploid cell frequency ranged from 11.9% to 25.3%. Several families of anther-derived monoploid clones of S. phureja were analyzed for differences among clones within a family and among families. Significant differences were found in both categories. Finally, unstained protoplasts of monoploid S. phureja clone AM3 were sorted based on forward angle light scatter (FALS) and autofluorescence. Fractions selected for low FALS and weak autofluorescence appeared to be selectively enriched for monoploid protoplasts. / Master of Science

A hybrid between a highly regenerative diploid clone (BARD 1-3) of Solanum phureja and haploid inducer IVP 101 was transformed with Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain 4404 containing plasmid pHB2892 with genes for green florescent protein (GFP) and kanamycin resistance. Hemizygous primary transformants (To) were produced from three leaf discs: 17 diploid plants from one leaf disc, three and nine tetraploids from the other two leaf discs. GFP expression was observed qualitatively under fluorescence microscopes and quantitatively with a GFP meter. Anther culture of tetraploids produced 29 plants, none with high levels of GFP. Segregation ratios for tetraploid T1 seedlings fit models for single duplex insertions (35 transgenic: 1 non) or double simplex insertions (15 transgenic: 1 non). Diploid T1 seedlings segregated for deleterious traits: dwarfed size and curled leaves, as well as the GFP transgene. Similar segregation patterns in diploid families implied that all diploids may have been from the same transformation event. The cumulative segregation showed the dwarfed and curled plants fit a single recessive gene ratio (3 normal: 1 mutant), and GFP fit a double-copy insertion ratio (15 transgenic: 1 non). There was substantial GFP silencing evidenced by the loss of expression in plants that had originally been selected for high GFP. However, six selections were found to be free of deleterious traits, consistently high expressers of GFP, and producers of stainable pollen with less 2n than IVP 101. / Master of Science