Tracing modern breeding introgressions in European potato.

ABSTRACT: The European potato germplasm originated from a few founding genotypes, and its narrow genetic base has since been broadened through introgressions from wild relatives. We combined pedigree records and genome-wide SNP data to trace the origin, spread, and contributing ancestors of modern breeding introgressions in Europe. We first used a curated pedigree database to identify the Major Contributing Ancestors (MCAs) of 1209 varieties from the European Common Catalogue, revealing influential cultivars such as Katahdin, Saskia, and Agria as the top contributors to the modern European gene pool. Building on this framework, we developed a modified MCA approach that uses SNP alleles to trace the spread of haplotypes that were introduced into the European germplasm after 1945; two of which now occ

SUBMITTER: Dent CI 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12909365 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature