Evaluation of Micro Tuberization Performances of Different Genotypes

Abstract

Certified potato seed tuber usage is one of the most important steps for production of high yield and quality potatoes. For this reason different seed tuber production methods have been developed. Among these methods, mini tuber production is the most popular one. In order to produce mini tubers, firstly potato plants are produced in vitro, and these plants are transferred to an environmentally-controlled greenhouse. Thus, disease- and virus-free mini tubers are produced as seed tubers. However, in vitro section of mini tuber production creates problems like storage and transfer of in vitro plants, and adaptation period of the plants to greenhouse conditions. In vitro micro tuber (MT) formation has been selected as a solution of these problems. The aim of the study was to produce micro tubers from 15 different genotypes and evaluate their micro tuberization performances to determine the genotype effect on MT formation. 3 varieties, 3 breeding lines and 9 different genotypes from International Potato Center (CIP) were selected for the study. For this purpose, micro tubers are produced in vitro by using Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 8% sucrose and 0.1 mg/L thidiazuron (TDZ). All experiments were conducted under dark conditions and 22/16 °C (8/16 h) temperature cycle. The micro tuberization performances were evaluated according to MT number per plant, MT formation rate (%), MT weight per plant (g), mean MT weight (g), mean MT diameter (mm). Differences between micro tuber production performances of different genotypes were determined and CIP395017.229 was identified as the most promising genotype to produce micro tubers.