A High Throughput Method for Generating Dihaploids from Tetraploid Potato

There is a worldwide effort to increase the efficiency of potato ( Solanum tuberosum L.) cultivar development by using inbred diploid breeding lines. This activity is impeded by the cost and effort required to produce dihaploids from cultivated tetraploid potatoes. We developed a high throughput dihaploid production method based on the 60-year-old method of Peloquin and Hougas. Red Norland inflorescences from commercial fields were transferred to greenhouses. As buds developed, pollen from the dihaploid inducer IVP 101 was applied systematically to thousands of stigmas per trial. Berries were harvested 21 days after pollination. Seeds of putative dihaploids lacking a seed spot marker were retained and ploidy was confirmed using flow cytometry. We recovered 23 dihaploids from 21,651 pollinations. This is a promising method for systematically carrying out thousands of pollinations since the cost of field-grown flowers is dramatically less than that of greenhouse-grown flowers.