Molecular Pathogens, 2025, Vol.16, No.1, 36-44 http://microbescipublisher.com/index.php/mp 42 7.2 Combating viral diseases in potatoes Potatoes are also often infected by viruses, which is an important reason for the decline in yields. Now, scientists have begun to use some molecular biology methods to track and manage virus resistance genes. Among them, a technique called dRenSeq is very useful. It can accurately find out which potato varieties have antiviral genes. dRenSeq is faster and more cost-effective compared to traditional whole genome sequencing (Armstrong et al., 2018; Cheng, 2024). This technology can help breeders to match better resistance combinations. At present, these molecular tools have been gradually used in breeding work to cultivate more antiviral varieties. This not only allows less pesticides to be used, but also maintains stable potato yields (Armstrong et al., 2018). 7.3 Integrating tools for multi-disease resistance Potatoes face more than one disease. Sometimes, a plant may be attacked by multiple pathogens at the same time. Therefore, the goal of scientists is to enable potatoes to have multiple disease resistance at the same time, such as being able to fight late blight and viruses. To do this, it is necessary to combine resistance genes from different sources. Techniques like molecular markers and gene stacking can work (Tiwari et al., 2013; Fadina et al., 2017). They can concentrate multiple resistance traits into the same breed. In addition, if parents and offspring can be selected, the breeding process can also be faster and more efficient (Uhrig et al., 1992; Rogozina et al., 2021). Through these methods, we can produce stronger potato varieties that can cope with a variety of diseases. This multi-resistance breeding also provides a good way for greener and more lasting disease prevention and control in the future. 8 Future Directions 8.1 Collaborative research and data sharing If you want to do better potato breeding, you can do it without a single person or a laboratory. Researchers around the world need to work together. Especially when using tools such as molecular markers and gene editing, it is very important for everyone to share data and methods. Although MAS (marker-assisted selection) has played a role in breeding, it is still necessary to discover more new resistance genes and develop better-use molecular markers (Tiwari et al., 2013). Through international cooperation, researchers can share germplasm resources, breeding materials and research results together. This not only speeds up the breeding process, but also makes the breeding process more efficient (Carrasco et al., 2009). 8.2 Toward climate-resilient potatoes Now, climate change has also become a big problem facing potato planting. Factors such as high temperature, drought, and saline will affect the growth of potatoes and may become more and more serious in the future (Dahal et al., 2019). Therefore, future research should also focus on how to adapt potatoes to these environmental stresses. Scientists need to find out genes or signaling molecules that can help potatoes to “heat-tolerate” and “drought-resistant” (Kikuchi et al., 2015; Dahal et al., 2019). Combining genetically modified technology with traditional breeding methods can lead to the cultivation of potatoes that can grow normally in harsh environments. This is critical for future sustainable production (Solomon-Blackburn and Barker, 2001; Kikuchi et al., 2015). Acknowledgments We would like to express our gratitude to the two anonymous peer researchers for their constructive suggestions on our manuscript. Conflict of Interest Disclosure The authors affirm that this research was conducted without any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. References Ahmad D., Zhang Z., Rasheed H., Xu X., and Bao J., 2022, Recent advances in molecular improvement for potato tuber traits, International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 23(17): 9982. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms23179982 Armstrong M., Vossen J., Lim T., Hutten R., Xu J., Strachan S., Harrower B., Champouret N., Gilroy E., and Hein I., 2018, Tracking disease resistance deployment in potato breeding by enrichment sequencing, Plant Biotechnology Journal, 17: 540-549. https://doi.org/10.1111/pbi.12997
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