In VIR them. N.I. Vavilov defended his dissertation Natalia Klimenko, junior researcher Department of Genetics, for the degree of Candidate of Biological Sciences, informs official website of the center.
The work of Natalia Klimenko is devoted to the study of the genetic diversity of potato varieties of domestic breeding using various types of DNA markers. An experimental sample of variety samples was formed on the basis of the VIR potato collection. Varieties created in different periods in various breeding centers of the country were selected for research.
As part of the study, Natalia, together with her supervisor, Doctor of Biological Sciences, Tatyana Andreevna Gavrilenko, and colleagues from the Department of Biotechnology of VIR, using markers of different plastid and mitochondrial DNA loci, analyzed the genetic diversity of domestic varieties by types of cytoplasms, conducted a molecular screening of varieties with markers of loci that control resistance to golden and pale cyst-forming potato nematodes, as well as with markers of the series genes controlling resistance to late blight and potato virus Y.
As the author of the study noted, during the dissertation work, for the first time, the types of cytoplasms for domestic potato varieties were determined, markers of disease and pest resistance genes for many varieties were identified, as a result of which a positive trend was revealed in the change in the frequency of occurrence of varieties with genetic material introgressed from Mexican wild species of the secondary genetic pool.
Molecular screening of varieties with markers associated with loci that control potato resistance to pests made it possible to select genotypes promising for further breeding from the VIR collection.
The final part of the dissertation work was the design of nomenclature standards and genetic passports of potato varieties created by breeders of the North-West region of the Russian Federation, which can be used as a control in studying the genetic identity and uniformity of variety samples obtained from various sources.