Abstract
Despite many reports of thein vitro production of microtubers, little is known about plant growth and yield from microtubers planted in the field. This study clarified differences in growth and yields between potato plants grown in the field from microtubers and from conventional seed tubers. The experiments were performed at Hokkaido University, Japan, over four years. Conventional seed tubers of about 50 g and microtubers of two sizes (0.5–1.0 g and 1.0–3.0 g) of the latematurity cultivar Norin 1 were planted, and plant growth and tuber yields were analyzed. The microtuber plants had a lower initial increase in root and leaf area index than conventional seed tuber plants, but had the same leaf area index after about 40 days from emergence. The first tuber formation in microtuber plants was about 7 days later than in conventional seed tuber plants, while tuber bulking occurred about 14 days later in microtuber plants. Consequently, the onset of tuber weight increase was later in microtuber plants, but the rate of increase thereafter was similar between conventional seed tuber and microtuber plants. At harvest the tuber fresh weight of microtuber plants was 82% that of conventional tuber plants, suggesting a potential for using microtubers for field planting.
Resumen
A pesar de los muchos reportes sobre producción de microtubérculosin vitro, se conoce muy poco acerca del desarrollo y rendimiento de las plantas provenientes de microtubérculos en el campo. Este estudio pone en claro las diferencias en desarrollo y producción en el campo de plantas provenientes de microtubérculos con las provenientes de tubérculo semilla convencional. Los experimentos se realizaron en la Universidad de Hokkaido, Japón durante cuatro años. Se sembraron tubérculos de semilla convencional de unos 50 g y microtubérculos de dos tamaños (0.5 a 1.0 g y 1.0 a 3.0 g) del cultivar de maduración tardía Norin 1, y se analizó tanto el desarrollo de las plantas como el rendimiento de los tubérculos. Las plantas provenientes de microtubérculos mostraron un incremento inicial del índice en área de raíces y hojas menor que las plantas provenientes de tubérculo semilla convencional, pero 40 días después de la emergencia, el índice de área foliar fue la misma. Las plantas de tubérculo semilla convencional y las plantas de microtubérculos mostraron muy poca diferencia en cuanto al numéro de días en que se produjo el inicio de la formación de tubérculos, pero el aumento en el volumen del tubérculo se produjo 10 dias después, en las plantas provenientes de microtubérculos. El incremento en tubérculos y peso seco total desde el comienzo de la formación de tubérculos hasta el maximo crecimiento de los vástagos fue mayor en las plantas originadas de tubérculo semilla convencional que en las plantas provenientes de microtubérculos. Al momento de la cosecha, el peso fresco de tubérculos de plantas provenientes de microtubérculos fue 82% de aquel proveniente de plantas de tubérculos convencionales, lo cual sugiere que los microtubérculos tienen potencial para su uso en el campo.
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Kawakami, J., Iwama, K., Hasegawa, T. et al. Growth and yield of potato plants grown from microtubers in fields. Am. J. Pot Res 80, 371–378 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02854248
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02854248