Genetic transformation through direct gene transfer methods holds promise for introducing novel traits to sweetpotato in cases where no solutions by conventional breeding are available. This may be if the trait is not known in sweetpotato or it is governed by complex inheritance. Sweetpotato is clonally propagated, highly heterozygous, polyploid and out-crossing - in other words, a challenging crop to breed. Combined with the low fertility found in sweetpotato, even introgression of dominant single gene traits may present a challenge.