Chloroplast genome of Solanum commersonii and S olanum tuberosum were completely sequenced, and Indel markers were successfully applied to distinguish chlorotypes demonstrating the chloroplast genome was randomly distributed during protoplast fusion. Somatic hybridization has been widely employed for the introgression of resistance to several diseases from wild Solanum species to overcome sexual barriers in potato breeding. Solanum commersonii is a major resource used as a parent line in somatic hybridization to improve bacterial wilt resistance in interspecies transfer to cultivated potato (S. tuberosum). Here, we sequenced the complete chloroplast genomes of Lz3.2 (S. commersonii) and S. tuberosum (PT56), which were used to develop fusion products, then compared them with those of five members of the Solanaceae family, S. tuberosum, Capsicum annum, S. lycopersicum, S. bulbocastanum and S. nigrum and Coffea arabica as an out-group. We then developed Indel markers for application in chloroplast genotyping. The complete chloroplast genome of Lz3.2 is composed of 155,525 bp, which is larger than the PT56 genome with 155,296 bp. Gene content, order and orientation of the S. commersonii chloroplast genome were highly conserved with those of other Solanaceae species, and the phylogenetic tree revealed that S. commersonii is located within the same node of S. tuberosum. However, sequence alignment revealed nine Indels between S. commersonii and S. tuberosum in their chloroplast genomes, allowing two Indel markers to be developed. The markers could distinguish the two species and were successfully applied to chloroplast genotyping (chlorotype) in somatic hybrids and their progenies. The results obtained in this study confirmed the random distribution of the chloroplast genome during protoplast fusion and its maternal inheritance and can be applied to select proper plastid genotypes in potato breeding program.
Keywords: Chloroplast; Indel marker; Protoplast fusion; Solanum commersonii; Solanum tuberosum.