Benoît Bizimungu, PhD

Mutational Genetics In Diploid Potato In The CRISPR Era
Fofana, B.*1, A. Somalraju1, D. Main1, M. Zaidi1, B. Bizimungu2
1Charlottetown Research and Development Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 440 University Avenue, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, C1A 4N6, Canada; 2Fredeicton Research and Development Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 95 Innovation Road, PO Box 20280, Fredericton, NB E3B 4Z7
Cultivated potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is the fourth most consumed food crop after rice wheat and maize. Cultivated potato is a clonally propagated, autotetraploid crop species with a narrow genetic diversity. Its highly heterozygous, complex genome, and tetrasomic inheritance make its genetic studies and improvement more difficult than grain crops. Recently, diploid potato breeding has regained an interest in the potato genetics community. Genetically, diploid potatoes are easy to work with, can be used as gene donors in the breeding process of cultivated potatoes, and can also be grown on their own as varieties. However, diploid breeding continuum faces many challenges including anti-nutritional factors and self-incompatibilities. Mutations are known as the key drivers for evolution and diversification in plants. In breeding and varietal selection, sources for variation are always sought as starting materials, and in the absence of desired natural variations in breeding populations, targeted or random mutagenesis is applied to induce variations. Recently, a mutagenized pre-breeding diploid potato population was developed at AAFC Charlottetown. Dr. Fofana will give an update on this genetic resource, its characterization, and its potentials in the CRISPR era.

Fighting against potato greening
Louis G. Sebarese LG1, Mohsin Zaidi1, Christian Lacroix2, Fatima Mitterboek3, Benoit Bizimungu3, and Bourlaye Fofana1
1Charlottetown Research and Development Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 440 University Avenue, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, C1A 4N6, Canada
2University of Prince Edward Island, 550 University Avenue, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, C1A 4P3, Canada
3Fredericton Research and Development Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Fredericton, New Brunswick, E3B 4Z7, Canada
Potato is the largest vegetable crop in Canada, with an export value of $1.8B in 2019. As a major food source, potato nutritional quality and safety are critical for the public health. Potato greening, also known as potato sunburn, causes 2-3% loss at the farm gate and up to 17% during postharvest and retail storage. It results from a de novo synthesis of chlorophyll in the cortical parenchyma cells under the periderm after light exposure and leads to a simultaneous formation of toxic steroidal glycoalkaloids (SGAs). Whereas chlorophyll itself is not a health hazard, SGAs are toxic to humans and animals. Development of potato cultivars that are resistant to light-induced greening is a viable strategy for an economic and environmental sustainability. We will present and discuss our approach and preliminary results towards an understanding of the tuber greening phenomenon in potato.

Bizimungu, B. 2021. Reputed Flavours in Heritage Potato Varieties-Implications for research. The North East Potato Technology Forum (NEPTF) 2021. March 23 and 24, 2021, Fredericton, N.B. (Abstract).

Crop Breed Genet Genom. 2020;2(4):e200017. https://doi.org/10.20900/cbgg20200017

Tai, H.H., Lagüe, M., Thomson, S., Aurousseau, F., Neilson, J., Murphy, A., Bizimungu, B., Davidson, C., Deveaux, V., Bègue, Y., Wang, H.Y., Xiong, X., Jacobs, J.M.E. (2020). Tuber transcriptome profiling of eight potato cultivars with different cold-induced sweetening responses to cold storage. Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, [online] 146 163-176. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.plaphy.2019.11.001

De Koeyer, D., V. Dickison, K. Gardner, B. Bizimungu, D. Chen, C. Goyer, L. Kawchuk, D. Main, J. Neilson, X. Nie, A. Smith, and H. Tai. 2019. Modernization of the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Potato Breeding Program. p. 34. In: Northeast Potato Technology Forum 2019 Conspectus. March 20-21, Charlottetown, PE.

(2019) Joint meeting of the Canadian Phytopathological Society and the
Quebec Society for the Protection of Plants, 2018 / Réunion conjointe la Société Canadienne de
Phytopathologie et de la Société de Protection des Plantes du Quebec, 2018, Canadian Journal of
Plant Pathology, 41:1, 138-167, DOI: 10.1080/07060661.2019.1519163

Potatoes: From seed to seed – can we change the approach?

2018 - View publication details

Neilson, J., Lagüe, M., Thomson, S., Aurousseau, F., Murphy, A.M., Bizimungu, B., Deveaux, V., Bègue, Y., Jacobs, J.M.E., Tai, H.H. (2017). Gene expression profiles predictive of cold-induced sweetening in potato. Functional and Integrative Genomics, [online] 17(4), 459-476. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10142-017-0549-9