Potatoes are one of the most important food crops worldwide, alongside wheat and rice. However, the tuber is also extremely susceptible to disease. Climate change, viral infections, and infestation by herbivores such as the Colorado potato beetle cause billions of dollars in crop losses every year. Researchers at the Universities of Potsdam and Erlangen, the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, and the National Institute of Biology in Ljubljana (Slovenia) have now developed a platform that analyzes stress responses in potato plants and can thus improve breeding.

Genome metabolism model developed for potatoes

The researchers focused on processes responsible for potato growth and defense against diseases and pests. To this end, the potato GEM genome metabolism model was developed. As the team reports in the journal PNAS, when attacked, the plant slows down its growth in order to use its molecular resources for defense. In favor of growth, the production of signaling and defense substances is reduced, which in turn leads to increased susceptibility to pests and pathogens.

Insight into growth and defense processes

The team used the newly developed genome-level metabolic model (GEM) to examine this compromise between growth and defense in detail. “The large-scale metabolic reconstruction potato GEM maps the entire known secondary metabolism of this important crop,” reports Zoran Nikoloski, professor of bioinformatics at the University of Potsdam and group leader at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology.

With the help of this mathematical model, it was possible to explore the interaction between growth and defense processes. “Better understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying the stress response of plants can improve breeding strategies and help us develop plant varieties with improved stress tolerance, yield, and quality,” says the researcher.

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