Insights into the molecular regulation of source–sink relations in potato

Abstract

Insights into the molecular regulation of source-sink relations in potatoPotatoes have been cultivated in South America for thousands of years and their cultivation has spread globally to become the third largest crop consumed by humans. Tubers are the storage organs formed from underground extensions of the stem called stolons and are the consumed part of the plant. There is a fine balance between the development of aboveground vines (source) and belowground tubers (sink). The study by Shi et al. (2024; 2541-2554, entitled 'Aging later but faster: how StCDF1 regulates senescence in Solanum tuberosum' published in this issue of New Phytologist, is a landmark study on senescence in potato that provides insight into the molecular processes coordinating tuberization, leaf senescence and sugar transport, which underlies source-sink relations and determination of tuber yield.