Progress in improving processing attributes in potato.

The recent publication of a molecular-function map of carbohydrate metabolism and transport in potato enables a candidate-gene approach to be used to solve the problem of cold-sweetening, signifying a significant step in our understanding of this economically important trait. With confirmation of the role that many important enzymes play in starch metabolism and their position on a detailed linkage map, we should now be able to make progress in manipulating this trait, either through conventional means such as marker-assisted selection or through transgenic approaches.