bulbosum

Bulbosum is a Latin adjective used in botanical nomenclature as a species epithet in several plant names; the most familiar is Solanum bulbosum, a wild relative of the potato in the Solanaceae. The epithet, meaning bulbous or bulb-bearing, is applied to traits related to bulb-like storage organs.

Solanum bulbosum is native to parts of the Mediterranean region, and it is valued in potato breeding for its genetic diversity. It is a herbaceous plant with tuberous storage organs and flowers typical of the nightshade family.

The bulbosum method is a genetic technique used in potato breeding to generate haploid and doubled-haploid lines. In this approach, pollen from Solanum bulbosum is used to pollinate Solanum tuberosum. Fertilization occurs, but in some ovules embryos develop primarily from the maternal tissue, yielding haploid embryos. These embryos are rescued in vitro and can be doubled to produce homozygous lines.

The method accelerates breeding and genetic analysis but has limitations, including variable embryo formation and the need for careful embryo rescue and cytological verification.

Related topics include Solanum tuberosum, haploids, doubled haploids, and embryo rescue.