Diploid potato breeding enables faster genetic improvement via selection against deleterious alleles in inbred lines, unlike breeding by intercrossing tetraploid varieties. Starch is the major source of calories in potato tubers, but the starch properties of diploid lines have rarely been reported. In this study, we provide a comprehensive characterisation of tuber and starch properties in two diploid lines that are early isolates from the Solynta breeding program, B26 and B100, and their F1 hybrids. B100 produced fewer, but larger tubers compared to B26, and both diploid lines produced tubers that are smaller than the tetraploid variety, Clearwater Russet. The low tuber yield of B100 correlates with its high self-compatibility and fruit production. Pruning of fruits in B100 significantly increased total tuber yield per plant by stimulating more tuber initiations, but had no effect on average tuber weight, starch content or starch structure. Among the diploid, hybrid and tetraploid lines examined, there were no differences in the total starch content of tubers. Although amylopectin structure and amylose content were similar between the two diploid lines and the tetraploid comparison, B26 had elevated levels of resistant starch and a striking elongated granule morphology. Our results showcase the variation in source-sink relations and starch structure in diploid potato breeding material, demonstrating their potential for research into the genetics underpinning metabolic and quality traits.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are an essential signalling entity in human plasma implicated in health and disease. Still, their core protein and lipid componentry, which lie at the centre of EV form and function, remain poorly defined. Here we performed high-resolution density gradient fractionation of over 140 human plasma samples to isolate circulating EVs, and systematically constructed their quantitative proteome (4,500 proteins) and lipidome (829 lipids) landscapes using mass spectrometry. We identified a highly conserved panel of 182 proteins (including ADAM10, STEAP23 and STX7) and 52 lipids (including PS, PIPs, Hex2Cer and PAs), providing a deep survey of hallmark molecular features and biological pathways characteristic to circulating EVs. We also mapped the surfaceome diversity, identifying 151 proteins on the EV surface. We further established a set of 42 proteins and 114 lipids features that served as hallmark features of non-EV particles in plasma. We submit ADAM10 and PS(3

Rubisco catalyzes the CO2 fixation step in the dark reactions of photosynthesis. Transgenic expression of better-performing Rubisco orthologs in plants or discovery of improved mutants of Rubisco via ...

Using the latest advances in instrumentation and computational workflows, Kelley et al. present a large-scale annotated cryo-electron tomography dataset of the model green alga, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. This unprecedented community resource is rich in high-resolution biological information and empowers the development of new methods for visual proteomics.

Mitochondrial formate dehydrogenase regulates the metabolic flux within the one-carbon shunt to connect cytosolic and mitochondrial one-carbon metabolism.

The composition of the plant microbiome is shaped not only by the host plant and abiotic environmental factors, but also by inter-microbial cooperation and competition. Plant pathogens, therefore must...

Small-spored Alternaria species such as A. alternata and A. arborescens are frequently isolated from diseased potato and tomato plants. However, their respective host ranges and pathogenic behaviours ...

UC San Diego’s Smith Seaweed Ecology Lab is digitizing its collection of more than 5,000 pressings and making it accessible to the public

Hanna Hõrak, Associate Professor of Molecular Plant Physiology at the University of Tartu Institute of Technology, has received a prestigious European Research Council (ERC) grant to study how cell pa...

Abstract. Chloroplasts are semi-autonomous organelles essential for photosynthetic organisms. They derived from ancestral cyanobacteria through an endosymb