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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Madison, Wisconsin » Vegetable Crops Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #367787
Research Project: Management of Genetic Resources and Associated Information in the U. S. Potato Genebank

Location: Vegetable Crops Research

Title: Survival of solanum jamesii tubers at freezing temperatures

Author
item Bamberg, John
item LOMBARD, KEVIN - University Of New Mexico
item PALTA, JIWAN - University Of Wisconsin
item WORKMASTER, B - University Of Wisconsin
item ATUCHA, AMAYA - University Of Wisconsin

Submitted to: American Journal of Potato Research
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/25/2020
Publication Date: 9/9/2020
Citation: Bamberg, J.B., Lombard, K., Palta, J., Workmaster, B., Atucha, A. 2020. Survival of solanum jamesii tubers at freezing temperatures. American Journal of Potato Research. 97:497-504. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12230-020-09797-x.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12230-020-09797-x

Interpretive Summary: Potato cultivars are propagated by tubers which are sensitive to damage by freezing. Potato has about 100 related wild related Solanum species that bear tubers growing naturally in the Americas. When we cooled tubers of a spectrum of these species, most were killed at a few degrees below zero. Only those of S. jamesii, native to the southwest USA, remained firm, sprouted and grew after one week as cold as -15C. Tolerance of potato tubers to freezing could be useful in several ways. Even non-lethal cold exposure of potato tubers at harvest reduces quality for eating and for seed tubers for planting. On the other hand, tolerance to colder temperatures in tuber storage could help preserve dormancy and limit diseases.

Technical Abstract: Potato cultivars are propagated by tubers which are sensitive to damage by freezing. Potato has about 100 related wild Solanum species growing naturally in the Americas. When tubers of a spectrum of these species were slowly cooled, most were killed at a few degrees below 0 C. Only tubers of Solanum jamesii, native to the southwest USA, remained firm, sprouted and grew after one week exposure to freezing temperatures as cold as -15C. Differential Thermal Analysis was performed to detect low temperature exotherms (LTEs) in jamesii and similar-sized tubers of cultivars Russet Burbank and Snowden. LTEs, indicating supercooling, were detected only in the jamesii tubers. Survival of potato tubers at freezing temperatures could be useful in several ways. Even non-lethal cold exposure of potato tubers at harvest reduces quality for eating and for seed, but storage at freezing temperatures without damage could help preserve tuber dormancy and limit diseases.