Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.).

Agrobacterium-mediated transformation is the most common method for the incorporation of foreign genes into the genome of potato as well as many other species in the Solanaceae family. This chapter describes protocols for the genetic transformation of three species of potato: Solanum tuberosum subsp. tuberosum (Desiréé), S. tuberosum subsp. andigenum (Blue potato), and S. tuberosum subsp. andigena using internodal segments as explants.

Prevention, control, and elimination of neglected diseases in the Americas: pathways to integrated, inter-programmatic, inter-sectoral action for health and development.

BACKGROUND: In the Latin America and Caribbean region over 210 million people live below the poverty line. These impoverished and marginalized populations are heavily burdened with neglected communicable diseases. These diseases continue to enact a toll, not only on families and communities, but on the economically constrained countries themselves. DISCUSSION: As national public health priorities, neglected communicable diseases typically maintain a low profile and are often left out when public health agendas are formulated. While many of the neglected diseases do not directly cause high rates of mortality, they contribute to an enormous rate of morbidity and a drastic reduction in income for the most poverty-stricken families and communities. The persistence of this "vicious cycle" between poverty and poor health demonstrates the importance of linking the activities of the health sector with those of other sectors such as education, housing, water and sanitation, labor, public works, transportation, agriculture, industry, and economic development. SUMMARY: The purpose of this paper is three fold. First, it focuses on a need for integrated "pro-poor" approaches and policies to be developed in order to more adequately address the multi-faceted nature of neglected diseases. This represents a move away from traditional disease-centered approaches to a holistic approach that looks at the overarching causes and mechanisms that influence the health and well being of communities. The second objective of the paper outlines the need for a specific strategy for addressing these diseases and offers several programmatic entry points in the context of broad public health measures involving multiple sectors. Finally, the paper presents several current Pan American Health Organization and other institutional initiatives that already document the importance of integrated, inter-programmatic, and inter-sectoral approaches. They provide the framework for a renewed effort toward the efficient use of resources and the development of a comprehensive integrated solution to neglected communicable diseases found in the context of poverty, and tailored to the needs of local communities.

The systemin precursor gene regulates both defensive and developmental genes in Solanum tuberosum.

Transformation of Solanum tuberosum, cv. Desiree, with the tomato prosystemin gene, regulated by the 35S cauliflower mosaic virus promoter, resulted in constitutive increase in defensive proteins in potato leaves, similar to its effects in tomato plants, but also resulted in a dramatic increase in storage protein levels in potato tubers. Tubers from selected transformed lines contained 4- to 5-fold increases in proteinase inhibitor I and II proteins, >50% more soluble and dry weight protein, and >50% more total nitrogen and total free amino acids than found in wild-type tubers. These results suggest that the prosystemin gene plays a dual role in potato plants in regulating proteinase inhibitor synthesis in leaves in response to wounding and in regulating storage protein synthesis in potato tubers in response to developmental cues. The results indicated that components of the systemin signaling pathway normally found in leaves have been recruited by potato plants to be developmentally regulated to synthesize and accumulate large quantities of storage proteins in tubers.