KRISTYNA WENTZ-GRAFF | MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL THE UNITED STATES POTATO GENE BANK GROWS POTATOESfrom stored seeds in order to figure out how to improve the crop.

STURGEON BAY, Wis. | Stored inside a nondescript building and greenhouse in Door County is the equivalent of much of the world's potato blueprints.

Wisconsin is home to many things, but it's safe to say few know the globe's largest collection of wild and cultivated potato species are located here.

Most folks traveling past the Peninsular Agriculture Research Station just outside Sturgeon Bay have no idea the potato chips or French fries they gobbled at lunch were most likely developed through the efforts of the United States Potato Gene Bank. Potato germ plasm is sent from Sturgeon Bay to researchers throughout the world who are trying to figure out how to make potatoes more frost- and pest-resistant, easier to digest and even different colors.

"Part of our business is to find things, characterize them as unusual, determine if there's interest, publish and see if anyone wants to run with it," said John Bamberg, director of the U.S. Potato Gene Bank.

The gene bank is a repository of thousands of seeds and cultivars collected throughout the U.S. and world over more than six decades. The oldest potato seeds at the gene bank, which was established by Wisconsin potato farmers in 1948, date back to the early 1950s.

The Sturgeon Bay facility, part of the National Plant Germplasm System preserving the genetic diversity of plants, is the only gene bank based in Wisconsin. Gene banks are scattered across the country including facilities for rice in Arkansas, soybeans and maize in Illinois, wheat in Idaho and tomatoes in California.

The gene banks are used to acquire, preserve and evaluate different plant varieties and then distribute them free to researchers. The potato facility houses about 5,000 seed populations and 1,000 clonal varieties. U.S. scientists and breeders outnumber international researchers seeking germ plasm by a 3 to 2 ratio. Plus horticulturists from companies such as Frito Lay work with potato germ plasm from the center.

Scientists like Shelley Jansky need access to genetic diversity to develop new varieties that are resistant to pests and extreme weather. She's working on solving the problem of verticillium wilt, a common fungus in the soil. To solve the problem, potato farmers must inject chemicals in their farm fields before planting their crops.

Through the potato gene bank, Jansky has found a wild species of potato from South America that's mostly immune to verticillium wilt.

Follow this link:
Potato Crops Thriving Thanks to Gene Research

Comments are closed.