POTATO PRODUCTION IN THE NORTH CENTRAL US IS VITAL TO THE REGIONAL ECONOMY AND PLAYS AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE NATIONAL POTATO SUPPLY. THE FOUR STATES OF MICHIGAN, MINNESOTA, NORTH DAKOTA, AND WISCONSIN ACCOUNTED FOR ALMOST A QUARTER OF THE US ACREAGE, WITH A FARM-GATE VALUE OF ABOUT $1 BILLION. ALL SECTORS OF THE POTATO MARKET ARE PRESENT IN THIS REGION, DOMINATED BY FRY AND CHIP PROCESSING MARKETS, WITH A SUCCESSFUL FRESH MARKET AND EXPANDING SPECIALTY MARKET NICHES. CHANGES IN CONSUMER PREFERENCE, PRODUCTION ECONOMICS, AND REGULATIONS REQUIRE CONTINUAL INNOVATION IN THE POTATO INDUSTRY, AND PLANT BREEDING LEADING TO VARIETY COMMERCIALIZATION IS CRITICAL TO MEETING THESE EVOLVING DEMANDS. THIS PROPOSAL, A JOINT EFFORT OF THE POTATO BREEDING AND GENETICS PROGRAMS AT FOUR NORTH CENTRAL LAND-GRANT UNIVERSITIES (UW, MSU, NDSU, UMN). THERE ARE THREE SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES DETAILED: 1) GENERATE SEGREGATING POPULATIONS BASED ON PHENOTYPIC AND GENOMIC SELECTION OF SUPERIOR PARENTS, 2) IDENTIFY SUPERIOR CLONES BASED ON MARKER-ASSISTED SELECTION FOR YIELD, QUALITY AND RESILIENCE TO BIOTIC AND ABIOTIC STRESS AND 3) COMMERCIALIZE NEW POTATO VARIETIES IN COLLABORATION WITH INDUSTRY STAKEHOLDERS. THE FOUR PROJECT DIRECTORS AND THEIR COLLABORATORS HAVE THE REQUISITE EXPERIENCE, FACILITIES, AND STAKEHOLDER RELATIONSHIPS TO SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETE THESE OBJECTIVES. THE EXPECTED OUTCOMES FROM THE TWO-YEAR GRANT INCLUDE THE RELEASE OF NEW VARIETIES, THE SELECTION OF NEW BREEDING LINES, NEW MARKERS FOR MARKER-ASSISTED SELECTION, AND PRELIMINARY DATA ON THE FEASIBILITY OF USING A RAPID CYCLING GENOME-WIDE MARKER ANALYSES FOR IMPROVING VARIETY DEVELOPMENT.