The Endelman Lab was fortunate to host Dr. Kenji Asano, from Japan’s National Agriculture and Research Organization, for a one-year sabbatical that ended February 2024. Here is a photo from his farewell dinner (Kenji is second from right):
As an experienced potato breeder and geneticist, Kenji provided a huge boost to our breeding program and conducted several research projects of his own. One was the development of a KASP marker for the potato virus Y (PVY) resistance gene Rychc, which is one of three genes known to provide “extreme” resistance to all known strains of the virus. This gene is the primary source of resistance in our russet germplasm and our growing diploid breeding program, making this KASP marker a very valuable tool for selection.
For more information, check out our publication in the American Journal of Potato Research.