Marker assisted selection of potato clones that process with light chip color

Development of cultivars with acceptable chip color is a major but challenging objective of breeding programs world-wide. Currently clones with suitable chip color are identified by including breeding populations in several storage environments over multiple crop seasons. Chip color involves several factors associated with the accumulation of reducing sugars including temperature. The availability of molecular markers associated with the genes controlling chip color would greatly reduce the time required to identify clones with this trait in breeding populations and advance our understanding of this critical carbohydrate characteristic. Polymorphisms in a sucrose synthase allele provided an excellent marker associated with chip color that could assist in selecting for genotypes with acceptable Agtron scores. © 2008 Potato Association of America.