COMPARISON OF RESTRICTION PATTERNS OF MITOCHONDRIAL-DNA FROM LOW AND HIGH SUGAR ACCUMULATING CULTIVARS SELECTIONS

Mitochondria were isolated from tubers of several potato cultivars/sel ections and the restriction pattern of their DNA was compared. Russet Burbank and Norchip are two important cultivars that accumulate high a mounts of reducing sugars, while ND860-2, 2221-6, and 2652-9 accumulat e only low amounts of sugars during cold storage. DNA was extracted fr om the purified mitochondria and subjected to digestion with the restr iction endonuclease HindIII. The obtained fragments were resolved by a garose gel electrophoresis. The results indicate maternal inheritance of potato mitochondria. The mitochondrial DNA fragment pattern of the low sugar accumulating selections differed from that of Russet Burbank and Norchip in lacking a 4.2-kb fragment and exhibiting, instead, a b and of size 3.7 kb.