Physiological, biochemical and molecular responses of the potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) plant to moderately elevated temperature

Abstract

Although significant work has been undertaken regarding the response of model and crop plants to heat shock during the acclimatory phase, few studies have examined the steadystate response to the mild heat stress encountered in temperate agriculture. In the present work, we therefore exposed tuberizing potato plants to mildly elevated temperatures (30/ 20°C, day/night) for up to 5 weeks and compared tuber yield, physiological and biochemical responses, and leaf and tuber metabolomes and transcriptomes with plants grown under optimal conditions (22/16°C). Growth at elevated temperature reduced tuber yield despite an increase in net foliar photosynthesis. This was associated with major shifts in leaf and tuber metabolite profiles, a significant decrease in leaf glutathione redox state and decreased starch synthesis in tubers. Furthermore, growth at elevated temperature had a profound impact on leaf and tuber transcript expression with large numbers of transcripts displaying a rhythmic oscillation at the higher growth temperature. RT-PCR revealed perturbation in the expression of circadian clock transcripts including StSP6A, previously identified as a tuberization signal. Our data indicate that potato plants grown at moderately elevated temperatures do not exhibit classic symptoms of abiotic stress but that tuber development responds via a diversity of biochemical and molecular signals.

Cell Wall Invertase Promotes Fruit Set under Heat Stress by Suppressing ROS-Independent Cell Death

“…Thus, it is important to determine whether decreased fruit and seed set by heat stress is due to source or sink limitation. Unlike severe heat stress, moderate heat stress generally has no detrimental effect on photosynthesis (Lafta and Lorenzen, 1995;Yeh et al, 2012;Hancock et al, 2014). Consistently, we found that LMHS adopted in this study also had no effect on the leaf photosynthesis and total plant biomass in either wild-type or transgenic tomato (Supplemental Fig.…”

“…However, compared to SSHS, longterm moderate heat stress (LMHS) is a more frequent event under field conditions especially amid gradually increasing temperature associated with climate change (Sato et al, 2006). The response mechanisms of plants to LMHS may be drastically different from those to SSHS (Yeh et al, 2012;Hancock et al, 2014). For example, mitochondrial cochaperone MGE2 is required for the tolerance of Arabidopsis vegetative growth to LMHS (35°C for 9 d), but not for its response to SSHS (44°C for 150 min; Hu et al, 2012;Yeh et al, 2012).…”

The Effect of High Temperature Occurring in Subsequent Stages of Plant Development on Potato Yield and Tuber Physiological Defects

“…Biochemical studies of the relationship between thermotolerance and heat-shock protein expression in potato, conducted by Ahn et al (2004) indicate a lack of high tolerance of cultivar Desirée to high temperature during the growing season. Despite this, in current research on the biochemical and genetic tolerance of potato plants 'Desirée' is used as a cultivar with moderate resistance to heat stress (Hancock et al 2014). In the earlier study of Rykaczewska (2004a) an increase in the number of tubers from 30 to 54 % compared to Table 8 The number of tubers of tested cultivars in relation to the control depending on the period of high temperature and soil moisturein % the control was found and also the presence of tubers chronologically younger.…”

The effect of physiological age of potato plants on chosen chlorophyll fluorescence parameters

“…Values of F v /F m of the tested (Hancock et al 2014). It therefore remains yet to clarify whether the cv.…”