Blog, genetics, mashua (Tropaeolum tuberosum)

Mashua: Tetraploid Variability

Posted on by bill
Twelve sets of three tubers each of seedlings out of Blanca mashua. Each is a little bit different, with mostly white or light yellow skin and various shades of red or purple eyes.
25
Oct

The domesticated varieties of mashua (Tropaeolum tuberosum) are tetraploid, meaning that they have four copies of each chromosome.  This allows the plant to carry twice the genetic diversity of a diploid organism (like most animals and many plants).  Balanced against that, mashua is most likely an autoploid, meaning that it became tetraploid by doubling its […]

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Blog, potato (Solanum tuberosum)

Potato: Morphological Observations of USDA Accessions 2017

Posted on by bill
A pile of tiny tubers collected from seedlings of Careta Amarilla. Most ar round and colors include yellow, orange, red, and purple.
10
Oct

This post is not really meant to be read start to finish.  The intent is that it will be picked up by search engines so that breeders and researchers working with these accessions in the future can find this information. We use accessions supplied by the USDA in some of our breeding work.  This report […]

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