CLONE X ENVIRONMENT INTERACTIONS FOR YELLOW-FLESH INTENSITY IN TETRAPLOID POTATOES

For the yellow-flesh fresh market, potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) culti vars with intense yellow-flesh are desired. The effects of clone, envi ronment and clone x environment interactions on the intensity of the y ellow-flesh trait in tetraploid potatoes were investigated, Twenty-fou r yellow-flesh clones, including 23 USDA selections and the check cult ivar Yukon Gold, were evaluated for tuber yellow-flesh color as measur ed by a reflectance colorimeter in replicated field trials in Presque Isle, Maine in 1991 and 1992, and in Riverhead, N.Y., and Bridgeton, N .J., in 1992 and 1993. There were significant differences among enviro nments and among clones for yellow-flesh intensity, The clone x enviro nment interaction was also significant, Broad-sense heritability of ye llow-flesh intensity was estimated as 0.93 with a 95% confidence inter val of 0.92-0.97. The instabilities noted in some of these clones, alt hough statistically significant, are of limited practical concern. The intensity of yellow-flesh will be an important trait for breeders to select in developing new yellow-flesh cultivars, However, in testing y ellow-flesh clones for future cultivar release, the role of environmen t and clone x environment interactions on other agronomic traits will probably be more important than the environment and clone x environmen t interactions on the intensity of yellow-flesh.