Letan Luo¹ , Yu Chen² , Lin Zhao¹ , Jiang Shi¹ , Yanhao Zhao³

1 Crop (Ecology) Research Institute of Hangzhou Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou, 310021, Zhejiang, China
2 Science and Technology Bureau of Lin'an District, Lin'an, 311300, Zhejiang, China
3 Tonglu County Agricultural Technology Extension Center, Tonglu, 311500, Zhejiang, China

Author    Correspondence author
Bioscience Methods, 2024, Vol. 15, No. 6   
Received: 05 Sep., 2024    Accepted: 16 Oct., 2024    Published: 06 Nov., 2024

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) is a globally significant crop for both food and industrial use, with high yield and starch content playing crucial roles in meeting demands for food, feed, and bioenergy. However, improving sweet potato yield and starch content poses challenges due to its genetic complexity and environmental sensitivity. This study summarizes genetic improvement methods for enhancing sweet potato yield and starch content, focusing on traditional breeding, marker-assisted selection (MAS), genomic selection (GS), gene editing, and multi-omics integration strategies. In recent years, MAS and GS have shown distinct advantages in accelerating the selection of high-yield and high-starch traits in sweet potato. Gene editing technologies, such as CRISPR/Cas9, provide precise approaches for the targeted regulation of key genes. Additionally, multi-omics techniques, including transcriptomics, metabolomics, and proteomics, help elucidate the biological pathways and regulatory mechanisms that influence yield and starch synthesis, offering strong support for optimizing breeding strategies. This study provides a clear direction for sweet potato breeding research, advancing progress toward high-yield and high-starch content varieties and carrying profound implications for global agricultural production and sustainability.

Sweet potato; Genetic improvement; Yield; Starch content; Gene editing