Radioactively-labeled shikimic acid (C-14) was incubated with potato tuber tissue disks to determine the relative rate of tyrosine synthesis in blackspot-resistant and susceptible cultivars. Tyrosine synthesis was 55 % higher in the susceptible cultivar, Lemhi Russet, than the resistant clone TXA 763 - 5. The susceptible clone also partitioned a lower percentage of C-14 tyrosine into soluble protein than did the resistant genotype. The percentage of labeled free tyrosine which would be available for oxidation by polyphenyloxidase was therefore much higher in the susceptible cultivar.