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Bringing potato disease resistance traits to market in the US

Nicolas Champouret: JR Simplot Co

<div><span>The most widely used French fry potato variety in America, the Russet Burbank, and the most popular chips variety, Atlantic, recently celebrated their 100-year and 40-year anniversaries respectively. In crops where varieties change infrequently, biotechnology tools and traits can readily bring benefits to farmers and consumers. To this end, Simplot Plant Sciences began working within the potato genome to reduce limitations of the widely grown commercial potato. The result is the Innate<sup>®</sup> potato platform with a stepped approach of increasing trait value from generation to generation. </span><span>Simplot Innate<sup>®</sup> technology permits the selective improvement of positive traits or minimization of negative traits without incorporation of foreign genes. The second generation of Innate<sup>®</sup> potatoes reduce blackspot bruise and asparagine (which reduces the potential for the formation of acrylamide), cold storage capability, and provide foliar late blight resistance against common North American strains. Therefore, Innate<sup>®</sup> potatoes are genetically engineered with traits appealing to potato growers, packers, processors, retailers and consumers. The talk will mainly focus on the late blight protection trait strategy, how it was selected, a description of benefits, and how to maintain its efficacy. I will also discuss how resistance genes can be combined in various desirable permutations to protect against pathogen populations and provide a preview of future disease traits.</span></div>

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