Spring can be bittersweet in our potato breeding program. On the one hand, we are preparing seed for planting, and the start of the field season brings excitement. On the other hand, we often have to say farewell to graduating students.
Last week we gathered to congratulate Peyton Sorensen (second from left) on the successful defense of her MS thesis, “Marker-based selection for disease resistance genes in tetraploid and diploid potato.” One of the key outcomes from her research was the design of a KASP marker for the late blight resistance gene RB (aka blb1). This is the first public KASP marker for this important gene, which will allow for more high-throughput screening.
We also bid farewell to João Nomura (third from left), who is returning to the University of São Paulo (ESALQ) to complete his PhD in Genetics and Plant Breeding. João spent 6 months in our group to enhance his skills in data analysis for genomics-assisted breeding of potato.