Vacuolar invertase knockout enhances drought tolerance in potato plants
Authors: Roitman, M., Teper-Bamnolker, P., Doron-Faigenboim, A., Sikron, N., Fait, A., Vrobel, O., Tarkowski, P., Moshelion, M., Bocobza, S., Eshel, D.
CRISPR/Cas9 knockout of the vacuolar invertase gene (StVInv) in potato enhanced drought resilience, with mutants maintaining higher stomatal conductance, transpiration, and photosynthetic efficiency, leading to improved agronomic water-use efficiency and biomass under water limitation. Metabolomic profiling showed accumulation of galactinol and raffinose, while ABA levels were reduced, indicating altered osmoprotective and hormonal responses that support sustained growth during drought.
drought stress vacuo lar invertase knockout CRISPR/Cas9 raffinose family oligosaccharides water-use efficiency
An Axiom SNP genotyping array for potato: development, evaluation and applications
Authors: Baig, N., Thelen, K., Ayenan, M. A. T., Hartje, S., Obeng-Hinneh, E., Zgadzaj, R., Renner, J., Muders, K., Truberg, B., Rosen, A., Prigge, V., Bruckmueller, J., Luebeck, J., Van Inghelandt, D., Stich, B.
The study reports the creation and validation of a high‑density Axiom SNP array for Solanum tuberosum, based on 10X Genomics sequencing of 108 diverse clones and integration of existing Illumina markers. The array demonstrated high reproducibility and, after filtering, provided 206,616 informative markers for population structure analysis, GWAS of polyphenol oxidase activity, and genomic prediction with accuracies up to 0.86.
An ERF transcription factor StPTI5, a novel regulator of endophyte community maintenance in potato
Authors: Lukan, T., Kraigher, B., Pogacar, K., Stare, K., Grubar Kovacic, T., Zagorscak, M., Petek, M., Stefanic, P., Vozelj, A., Levak, V., Mahkovec Povalej, T., Garcia, J. M., Pozo, M. J., Mandic-Mulec, I., Gruden, K.
The study shows that the ERF transcription factor PTI5, previously identified as a susceptibility factor, is strongly induced during Bacillus subtilis biofilm establishment on potato roots and modulates ethylene‑dependent immune signaling. Silencing PTI5 enhances bacterial abundance and increases colonization by the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus Rhizophagus irregularis, indicating PTI5 restricts both pathogenic and beneficial microbial interactions. These findings provide mechanistic insight for managing beneficial plant‑microbe relationships in crops.