Abstract
The time of application of gibberellic acid on potato tuber growth and physiological ageing was studied. Potato plants derived from botanical seed were sprayed at five stages during their growth cycle, and tubers were harvested at 10-day intervals after treatment. It was found that hybrid Chacasina F1 forms tubers until approximately 50 days after transplantation irrespective of the season (spring or autumn). Foliar sprays with gibberellic acid 30–50 days after transplantation suppressed the growth of pre-formed tubers for about 10 days after application and promoted the induction of new tubers, leading to a higher number of tubers per plant in comparison with the untreated control. This temporary effect of gibberellic acid resulted in a reduction in mean tuber weight, but generally without affecting the total weight (yield) of tubers per plant. In addition, gibberellic acid affected the physiological age of the tubers by inducing the breakage of bud dormancy at all stages of tuber growth. Overall, at all harvest times except 90DAT, earlier sprouting and/or a higher number of sprouted buds per tuber were observed for the treatments in which GA was applied within 20 days of harvest.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alexopoulos AA, Akoumianakis KA, Passam HC (2006a) Effect of plant growth regulators on the tuberisation and physiological age of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) tubers grown from true potato seed. Can J Plant Sci 86:1217–1225
Alexopoulos AA, Akoumianakis KA, Passam HC (2006b) The effect of the time and mode of application of gibberellic acid on the growth and yield of potato plants derived from true potato seed. J Sci Food Agric 86:2189–2195
Alexopoulos AA, Aivalakis G, Akoumianakis KA, Passam HC (2007a) Effect of foliar applications of gibberellic acid or daminozide on plant growth, tuberisation, and carbohydrate accumulation in tubers grown from true potato seed. J Hort Sci Biotechnol 82:535–540
Alexopoulos AA, Akoumianakis KA, Olympios CM, Passam HC (2007b) The effect of the time and mode of application of gibberellic acid and inhibitors of gibberellin biosynthesis on the dormancy of potato tubers grown from true potato seed. J Sci Food Agric 87:1973–1979
Alexopoulos AA, Akoumianakis KA, Vemmos SN, Passam HC (2007c) The effect of post-harvest application of gibberellic acid and benzyl adenine on the duration of dormancy of potatoes produced by plants grown from TPS. Postharvest Biol Technol 46:54–62
Allen EJ, O’Brien PJ, Firman D (1992) Seed tuber production and management. In: Harris PM (ed) The potato crop: the scientific basis for improvement, 2nd edn. Chapman & Hall, London, pp 247–291
Bandara MS, Tanino KK, Waterer DR (1998) Effect of pot size and timing of plant growth regulator treatments on growth and tuber yield in greenhouse-grown Norland and Russet Burbank potatoes. J Plant Growth Regul 17:75–79
Burton WG (1989) The potato. Longman Scientific and Technical, Essex
Claassens MMJ, Vreugdenhil D (2000) Is dormancy breaking of potato tubers the reverse of tuber initiation? Potato Res 43:347–369
Cutter EG (1992) Structure and development of the potato plant. In: Harris PM (ed) The potato crop—the scientific basis for improvement, 2nd edn. Chapman & Hall, London, pp 65–146
Ewing EE (1990) The role of hormones in potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) tuberization. In: Davies PJ (ed) Plant hormones and their role in plant growth and development. Kluwer, Dordrecht, pp 515–538
Golmirzaie AM, Malagamba P, Pallais N (1994) Breeding potatoes based on true seed propagation. In: Bradshaw JE, Mackay GR (eds) Potato genetics. CAB International, Wallingford, pp 499–513
Jackson SD (1999) Multiple signaling pathways control tuber induction in potato. Plant Physiol 119:1–8
Kumar D, Wareing PF (1974) Studies on tuberization of Solanum andigena. II. Growth hormones and tuberization. New Phytol 73:833–840
Lovell PH, Booth A (1967) Effects of gibberellic acid on growth, tuber formation and carbohydrate distribution in Solanum tuberosum. New Phytol 66:525–537
Madec P, Perennec P (1969) Levve de la dormance de tubercules de pommes de terre d’ age different: action de la rindite, de la gibbereline et de l’ oeilletonage. Eur Potato J 12:96–115
Reeve RM, Timm H, Weaver ML (1973) Parenchyma cell growth in potato tubers. II. Cell divisions vs. cell enlargement. Am Potato J 50:71–78
Reust W (1986) EAPR working group ‘physiological age’ of the potato. Potato Res 29:268–271
Sharma N, Kaur N, Gupta AK (1998) Effects of gibberellic acid and chlorocholine chloride on tuberisation and growth of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.). J Sci Food Agric 78:466–470
van Es A, Hartmans KJ (1987) Starch and sugars during tuberization, storage and sprouting. In: Rastovski A, van Es A (eds) Storage of potatoes: post-harvest behavior, store design, storage practice, handling. Pudoc, Wageningen, pp 79–113
Xu X, van Lammeren AAM, Vermeer E, Vreugdenhil D (1998) The role of gibberellin, abscisic acid, and sucrose in the regulation of potato tuber formation in vitro. Plant Physiol 117:575–584
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to Dr. Noel Pais of the International Potato Center (CIP), Peru, for providing seed of potato cv. Chacasina. We are also indebted to the State Scholarships Foundation/IKY for the scholarship awarded to Dr. Alexopoulos.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Alexopoulos, A.A., Karapanos, I.C., Akoumianakis, K.A. et al. Effect of Gibberellic Acid on the Growth Rate and Physiological Age of Tubers Cultivated from True Potato Seed. J Plant Growth Regul 36, 1–10 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00344-016-9616-z
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00344-016-9616-z