Molecular Microbiology Research, 2025, Vol.15, No.2, 59-68 http://microbescipublisher.com/index.php/mmr 60 varieties through asexual reproduction. New traits generally come from existing breeding materials, varieties, or wild potato species (Brown, 2011). Although there are many new technologies now, traditional breeding is still very important. Because it can help us cultivate potato varieties that can resist diseases, drought, and meet market demand. However, traditional breeding is not without its difficulties. While maintaining genetic diversity, we need to ensure that the newly cultivated varieties can meet the requirements of yield and quality. Many times, this means that materials can only be selected in a relatively small gene bank, and the space for breeding is relatively limited (Zhu et al., 2024). 2.2 Milestones in the genetic improvement of potatoes In the past 100 years, potato breeding has achieved many results. Early work was mainly to make the tubers look better and have a more suitable sugar content, and to resist diseases, such as anti-verticillin wilt, and to increase yield. Later, the researchers introduced new resistance and quality traits by cultivating parental materials of diploid and tetraploid. Poland has successfully cultivated many disease-resistant potato varieties, which shows that this practice is effective. At the same time, the application of marker assisted selection (MAS) technology also makes breeding faster and more accurate. This technique can help us identify plants with target genes early in breeding (Zimnoch-Guzowska and Flis, 2021). Research also shows that this approach not only reduces workload, but also improves screening accuracy (Beketova et al., 2021). 2.3 Advances in biotechnological applications Now, biotechnology has brought many new tools to potato breeding. It solves many problems that cannot be done in traditional breeding. For example, through genetic engineering, we can add or close certain genes without changing the characteristics of the entire breed (Nahirñak et al., 2022). Techniques like Agrobacterium transformation, gene gun (particle bombardment) and protoplast transfection have been used to introduce target genes into potatoes. In recent years, gene editing tools such as CRISPR/Cas9 have also been used, which can modify genes very accurately. These methods have helped us develop some new potato varieties. Not only are they more resistant to diseases and insects, they also increase nutritional value. Some varieties can also reduce the content of harmful substances (such as acrylamide). In addition, high-throughput phenotyping (HTP) platforms are becoming increasingly common. It can continuously observe their response to the environment without harming the plants. This technique helps breeders find plants that perform well faster, especially when screening new varieties with strong stress resistance and high tuber quality (Tiwari et al., 2021). 3 Genetic Basis of Early Maturation 3.1 Key genes associated with early maturation Whether potatoes can ripen early is an important trait in breeding. It can help growers shorten their growth time and increase yields. The study found that several key genes play an important role in this process. For example, a gene called PUB14, which is an E3 ubiquitin ligase, is very important in regulating tuber formation and maturation. This gene can be found in the relevant QTL on chromosome 5 of potatoes (Li et al., 2018). In addition, genes such as StMADS18, StSWEET10C and StSWEET11 are also related to precocious puberty. They can affect the transport of signal molecules, thereby affecting the rate at which potatoes mature (Hui et al., 2022). These genes work together to control the complex genetic mechanisms of potato premature ripening. 3.2 Genetic markers for early maturation traits Finding genetic markers related to premature ripening is very helpful for potato breeding. Previous study analyzed the tetraploid potato population and developed 8 molecular markers related to premature puberty. Several of them are also on chromosome 5 (Li et al., 2018). Two types of markers such as SSR (simple repeat sequence) and SCAR (feature amplification region) are used more frequently. For example, the two markers SSR5-85-1 and SCAR5-8 can help scientists accurately locate premature puberty-related genes within the range of 471 kb. These markers can be used with Marker Assisted Selection (MAS), allowing us to select premature varieties faster and save breeding time.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjQ4ODYzNA==