Heat stress affects carbohydrate metabolism during cold-induced sweetening of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.)

Abstract

Tolerance to heat stress for retention of low-temperature sweetening-resistant phenotype in potato is conferred by insensitivity of acid invertase activity to cold induction. Heat stress exacerbated cold sweetening (buildup of reducing sugars) of the LTS (low-temperature sweetening)-susceptible potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) cultivars, Ranger Russet and Russet Burbank, and completely abolished the resistance to cold sweetening in the LTS-resistant cultivars/clones, Sage Russet, GemStar Russet, POR06V12-3 and A02138-2. Payette Russet and EGA09702-2, however, demonstrated considerable tolerance to heat stress for retention of their LTS-resistant phenotype. Heat-primed Payette Russet and EGA09702-2 tubers accumulated fourfold more sucrose when subsequently stored at 4 °C, while reducing sugar concentrations also increased marginally but remained low relative to the non-heat-tolerant LTS-resistant clones, resulting in light-colored fries. By contrast, sucrose concentrations in heat-primed tubers of the non-heat-tolerant clones remained unchanged during LTS, but reducing sugars increased fivefold, resulting in darkening of processed fries. Acid invertase activity increased in the LTS-susceptible and non-heat-tolerant LTS-resistant cultivars/clones during cold storage. However, Payette Russet tubers maintained very low invertase activity regardless of heat stress and cold storage treatments, as was the case for Innate Russet Burbank (W8) tubers, where silenced invertase conferred robust tolerance to heat stress for retention of LTS-resistant phenotype. Importantly, heat-stressed tubers of Payette Russet, EGA09702-2 and Innate Russet Burbank (W8) demonstrated similar low reducing sugar and high sucrose-accumulating phenotypes when stored at 4 °C. Tolerance to heat stress for retention of LTS-resistant phenotype in Payette Russet and likely its maternal parent, EGA09702-2, is, therefore, conferred by the ability to maintain low invertase activity during cold storage of heat-stressed tubers.

The Importance of Nutrient Management for Potato Production Part I: Plant Nutrition and Yield

“…Besides, various bacterial and viral diseases affect potato yield and production (Rich 1983). The abiotic stresses that reduce yield include high radiation (Jansen 2002), heat stress (Herman et al 2017), cold stress (Oufir et al 2008) and air pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide and ozone (Bahl and Kahl 1995). The most important abiotic factor affecting yield and quality is drought stress (Obidiegwu et al 2015).…”

Genome-wide analysis of the potato Hsp20 gene family: identification, genomic organization and expression profiles in response to heat stress

“…The increased temperatures associated with global warming have adverse effects on plant growth and development [ 1 ]. During tuber development, high temperatures can change plant source–sink relationship, which disrupts tuber initiation, and thus reduces yield and quality [ 2 – 4 ]. To survive and avoid adverse effects under high temperature, plants established self-defense mechanisms during evolution.…”

Research Article Genetic parameters of important characteristics for the development of potato cultivars designed for industrial processing

“…Regarding the average soil temperature, in the two growing periods, spring (21.9ºC) and summer (25.7ºC), the temperature was higher than ideal for tuber formation (15.0 to 20.0 °C). Heat stress, in addition to reducing crop productivity and increasing the occurrence of physiological disorders, acts by reducing the dry matter content of tubers (Menezes et al, 2001) and changing the performance of tubers during storage, which have early sprouting, increased sucrose and reducing sugars, and change in resistance to cold-induced sweetening (Herman et al, 2016). Thus, the information contained in this study, obtained from Silva (2019), meets the demand for estimates of genetic parameters under heat stress, which is commonly found in potato growing regions in Brazil.…”

“…Importantly, although high heritability has been obtained for GLUC, when tubers are subjected to storage at low temperatures, the accumulation of reducing sugars is subject to great environmental influence (Sun et al, 2018), and in these cases the estimated heritability has been of low magnitude (Salamoni et al, 2000). Therefore, low glucose levels at harvest will not necessarily guarantee success with selection for cold resistance during storage (Herman et al, 2016). Regarding SHA, TEX, CUR, SHU and SIU, the moderate estimated heritability and the high contribution of genetic variance in the interaction of genotype-growing environment, verified here, were predicted, because these traits are controlled by few genes, therefore, little influenced by the environment (Slater et al, 2014).…”