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ARS Home » Plains Area » Fargo, North Dakota » Edward T. Schafer Agricultural Research Center » Small Grain and Food Crops Quality Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #412403
Research Project: Improving Potato Postharvest Quality by Identifying and Manipulating Molecular Processes Regulating Tuber Dormancy and Wound-Healing

Location: Small Grain and Food Crops Quality Research

Title: Physiological and molecular mechanisms associated with potato tuber dormancy

Author
item Dogramaci, Munevver
item DOBRY, EMILY - Pennsylvania State University
item FORTINI, EVANDRO - North Dakota State University
item SARKAR, DIPAYAN - Orise Fellow
item ESHEL, DANI - Agricultural Research Organization - Volcani Center
item CAMPBELL, MICHAEL - Pennsylvania University

Submitted to: Journal of Experimental Botany
Publication Type: Review Article
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/18/2024
Publication Date: 4/23/2024
Citation: Dogramaci, M., Dobry, E.P., Fortini, E., Sarkar, D., Eshel, D., Campbell, M. 2024. Physiological and molecular mechanisms associated with potato tuber dormancy. Journal of Experimental Botany. https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erae182.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erae182

Interpretive Summary: Most potato tubers are kept in cold storage for 6 to 8 months after harvest. During cold storage, tubers need to maintain a dormant state, including suppression of sprout growth, to ensure optimum storage and market qualities. Internal and external factors control potato tuber dormancy, and understanding the role of these factors in dormancy regulation is highly relevant to potato industry stakeholders. The aim of this review is to present the current knowledge on potato dormancy regulation. We discuss the search for cultivated and wild potato relatives with desirable dormancy attributes. Additionally, new knowledge on internal physiological factors related to cell division, plant hormone regulation, and plant defense response, which contribute to tuber dormancy progression in storage, are presented. The role of commercial and widely used sprout suppressing chemicals on such internal regulations of potato tuber dormancy are also discussed. Information from this review will be valuable to scientists and industry stakeholders for building future strategies to develop new potato varieties with prolonged dormancy and improved postharvest storage qualities. This review also helps to understand the role of current sprout suppressor chemicals on internal dormancy regulation and their overall impact on postharvest storage and end-use qualities.

Technical Abstract: Tuber dormancy is an important physiological trait that impacts postharvest storage and end use qualities of potatoes. Overall, dormancy regulation of potato tuber is a complex process driven by genetic as well as environmental factors. Elucidation of the molecular and physiological mechanisms that influence dormancy progression of tuber has wider potato breeding and industry relevant implications. Therefore, the primary objective of this review is to present the current knowledge on the diversity in tuber dormancy traits among wild relatives of potatoes and discuss how genetic and epigenetic factors contribute to the dormancy progression. Advancements in understanding of key physiological mechanisms involved in tuber dormancy regulations, such as apical dominance, phytohormone metabolism, and oxidative stress responses were also discussed. This review highlights the impacts of common sprout suppressors on the molecular and physiological mechanisms associated with tuber dormancy and other storage qualities. Collectively, the literature suggests that significant changes in expressions of genes associated with cell cycle, phytohormone metabolism, and oxidative stress response influence initiation, maintenance, and termination of dormancy in potato tubers.