World Congress on Root and Tuber Crops Nanning, Guangxi, China, January 18-22, 2016

n  Importance of sweetpotato n  Advances in sweetpotato breeding SSA n  Genomic tools for sweetpotato improvement

project (GT4SP) n  Way forward

Source: FAOSTAT3.FAO.ORG (March 2015)

Are

a H

arve

sted

/ P

rodu

ctio

n

Yield

Sweetpotato for Profit and Health Initiative a multi-partner, multi-donor initiative that seeks to reduce child under-nutrition and improve smallholder incomes in 10 million African families by 2020 through the effective production and expanded use of sweetpotato.

The lead agency of SASHA and the SPHI is the International Potato Center, Lima, Peru.

The GT4SP project is leading the effort to develop next generation breeding tools to support crop improvement in SASHA and other projects.

The Sweetpotato Action for Security and Health in Africa

n  The importance and potential of SP is becoming widely recognized across the globe.

n  Many public and private organizations recognize the superior nutritional value in SP compared to many other staple crops and investments are increasing.

n  SASHA “1” has been very successful – since 2009, breeding programs (9), released 53 new varieties (31orange-fleshed), 3 regional Sweetpotato Support Platforms, near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) technology introduced, seed systems, virus studies, value-added Proof of concept/delivery system sub-projects

n  SASHA “2” and Sweetpotato for Profit and Health Initiative (SPHI) - significant traction and new partners. q  See http://sweetpotatoknowledge.org/

In short…..A lot of people are more interested in sweetpotato than ever before!!!

However….genomic resources for sweetpotato are noticeably

lacking!!

An  ambi(ous  project  to  sequence  sweetpotato  and  develop  modern  breeding  tools  for  a  food  crop  that  sustains  million  of  people  in  SSA. Collaborators: Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI) at Cornell, Michigan State University (MSU); University of Queensland (UQ), Australia; CIP, Peru, Uganda, Ghana; BioSciences E &Central Africa (BecA), Kenya; National Crops Resources Research Institute (NaCRRI), Uganda; Crops Res. Institute, Ghana,

Start-Up, San Diego Jan. 2015

1st Annual Mtg. San Diego, Jan. 2016

I. setosa I. nil

I. umbraticola I. ramosissima I. littoralis

I. xleucantha

I. tenuissima I. lacunosa I. grandifolia I. cynanchifolia

I. tiliacea I. cordatoriloba

I. tabascana

I. triloba

I. trifida

I. batatas

The strategy for sweetpotato genome sequencing Sequence the closely related wild ancestors that are diploid and homozygous

(Rajapakse et al. Mol Phylogenet Evol 2004)

•  SweetpotatoBase.org website and database established (BTI) integrate database to manage genotyping and phenotyping data

•  Project website http://sweetpotatogenomics.cals.ncsu.edu

•  Diploid F1 mapping population (M9 x M19) derived from two heterozygous I. trifida genotypes

•  8x8 Pop A x Pop B Diversity Panel of 16 sweetpotato parents from two distinct SSR-defined diversity at CIP-BecA for in vitro maintenance

•  Two 6x I. batatas populations have been separately developed at CIP-Lima and NaCRRI.

•  NCSU, UQB and CIP groups have begun work to develop SNP calling, phasing, imputation and linkage mapping algorithms for polyploids.

•  Capacity building efforts begun at BecA.

Acknowledgment

Boyce Thompson Institute – Cornell University

Dr. Zhangjun FeiHonghe SunDr. Chen JiaoMingyue Zhang

Dr. Joyce Van EckPatricia Keen

Michigan State UniversityDr. Robin BuellJohn Hamilton

North Carolina State UniversityDr. Craig Yencho

Dr. Qinghe CaoXuzhou Sweetpotato Research Institute

University of California DavisDr. Ming-Cheng LuoDr. Tingting Zhu

Dr. Awais Khan Dr. Jan KreuzeRosario Herrera

International potato center

Think and Do ncsu.edu

For more information see: SweetpotatoGenomics.CALS.NCSU.edu

Thank you