Location: Sugarbeet and Potato Research
2017 Annual Report
Accomplishments
1. Polyamine metabolism (peroxidation) is required for potato tuber wound healing (WH). The lack of biological information needed for development of technologies to induce rapid WH (suberization) in tubers damaged during harvest, handling and seed cutting results in infection, defect development and nutritional losses that exceed $330 m/yr. ARS scientists in Fargo, North Dakota determined the involvement of a relatively obscure biological pathway (polyamine (PA) synthesis and metabolism) in potato WH by applying inhibitors of these PA processes and determining the effect on suberin formation. Results showed that inhibition of a specific step in PA metabolism virtually halted the WH processes (suberin biosynthesis) indicating that this metabolic step was the source of cellular hydrogen peroxide required for suberin biosynthesis and the associated barriers to infections. These results indicate that this specific step in PA metabolism is essential in tuber wound healing and suggest that enhancement of hydrogen peroxide production from this biological process has potential in the development of approaches to improve WH and reduce wound-related losses for the industry and consumer. Objective 2; subobjective 2.2.
